


Untouchable

by BeautifulFiction



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Blackmail, M/M, Maes Hughes Lives, Powerful dynasties, Questionable Choices, implied dubious consent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulFiction/pseuds/BeautifulFiction
Summary: "A dark haired young man, no older than twenty, had his paramour pressed against the wall. One hand cupped his lover’s chin, holding them close for a deep kiss while the other gripped their hip tight. Not womanly hips, Roy realised with a smile. The shorter of the two was lean and masculine, a body used to working and – from the look of things – playing hard. Their face was obscured by a fall of pale hair turned silver by the moonlight. Dark clothes blended with the night, and the skin of their left arm and shoulder glowed, sheathing hard, firm muscles."A witnessed moment between two lovers changes the way Roy looks at Ed, and the subtle attraction that he has ignored for so long blooms into something more. Unfortunately, there is more to Ed's current lover than meets the eye. Can Roy help Ed free himself from the clutches of a dangerous partner, or will they both end up facing dire consequences? (Roy's POV)
Relationships: Edward Elric/Other(s), Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 174
Kudos: 327





	1. Untouchable

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially written in 2008. Due to personal reasons, I stripped it back down to a one-shot (Also available on AO3) However, people have expressed an interest in seeing the rest. It was never finished, but I hope to change that in the coming weeks 💖
> 
> Warnings: Blackmail, coerced consent etc between Ed and his lover. Canon compliant age difference between Ed and Roy. Some dodgy choices made in the name of "for Ed's own good." which do get addressed.

Roy Mustang sighed, his lips quirking into a smile as he strolled along the street. His jacket was slung over his shoulder and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone, letting the warm breeze caress his skin. Car exhaust and jasmine mixed together in an intoxicating perfume, heady and free: the scent of Central’s summer. 

Times like this were rare. Hell, they had practically been unheard of these past few years. He could not remember when he had last stopped the heartbeat of his life and simply enjoyed each moment. For months, events had been rushing at him: destiny’s bullets all aiming true. They had gathered momentum, building into a desperate pinnacle of Bradley’s making. Then, in the time it took for dusk to melt inevitably into dawn, it was over.

Relief was a dizzy high, escalated further by Ed’s success. It had already been two months since both the Elric brothers had walked into the office, as bold as ever. Al’s body was even the correct age, as if it had continued to grow in all that time he had been locked inside his armour. Alphonse was calm and centred, but it was nothing in comparison to Ed. 

It was as if the molten steel of his potential had finally formed and solidified into something that was – Roy hesitated, wordless in his own thoughts – simply stunning. There was no other way to describe Ed now. He dazzled people with his alchemy and left them breathless with his determination. Roy had never known anyone so strong.

He would probably never find out what Ed had done to snatch Al back from the tenacious grasp of the gate, but there was a sense now, when he looked at him, of incredible confidence tempered with a trace of humility. It was as though the young man had gambled everything and, despite all the odds being against him, still won.

It was hard to believe that there had ever been any doubt that Ed would pull it off, but back then, in the midst of it all… 

Roy shook his head, chasing the thoughts away in one quick motion. The lazy buzz of whisky in his blood was just enough to make him thoughtful and bring his focus closer to the present. One glass and suddenly it was hard to see anything beyond this time, this second, this breath. One drink and suddenly he remembered everything he had to be grateful for: his freedom, his friends, his life…. It could have been so very different.

He walked on, content in his own reverie. Bars made pockets of noise as lamplight spilt from their windows to splash across the sidewalk. Tobacco smoke curled from open doorways, beckoning with edgy fragrance. It seemed as if the world was celebrating. It was like everyone had chosen this one night to appreciate what they had and forget all that they had lost. Euphoria, strange and heady, hummed in the air. There was no real reason for it, but sometimes it seemed that the city itself was letting its hair down.

Crossing the road, he walked in the cooler shadows, rolling his shoulders as the peace settled around him. This feeling, this lack of tension, was like great sex, but without the awkward morning after. It was as if his body had experienced some incredible release, and now he could revel in bliss.

The thought of sex made his mind wander. It had been a while since he had caught any fun between the sheets. Perhaps he should look in on Angela: blonde, statuesque and incredibly willing to immerse herself in a really good time; or maybe Guye, perfect for a night of pleasure without any expectations when dawn broke over the horizon….

Movement on the other side of the street made him hesitate. The light was poor, but there was no hiding the young couple half-concealed in the mouth of the alley directly opposite his position. If either of them looked up they would see him in an instant, but they were too engrossed in each other to notice the world around them.

A dark haired young man, no older than twenty, had his paramour pressed against the wall. One hand cupped his lover’s chin, holding them close for a deep kiss while the other gripped their hip tight.

Not womanly hips, Roy realised with a smile. The shorter of the two was lean and masculine, a body used to working and – from the look of things – playing hard. Their face was obscured by a fall of pale hair turned silver by the moonlight. Dark clothes blended with the night, and the skin of their left arm and shoulder glowed, sheathing hard, firm muscles.

The kiss broke, and Roy heard the tight, hoarse groan of the man against the wall. It ran through him like quicksilver, spreading warmth along every nerve. He knew he should move. For god’s sake, he was not so desperate that he would get his kicks from watching other people. Yet something held him transfixed, fascinated and increasingly aroused.

It was an appealing image, dark hair and light, like night and day, but it was the movements of the one with his back pressed against the brickwork that caught and held his attention. Every twitch and grind was passionately artless. It should have been naïve and clumsy but, to Roy, it spoke of something feral and wild, something he itched to tame.

How long had it been since he had taken a lover like that to his bed: one who did not view sex as a game of guile, but simply enjoyed it for the sheer pleasure it could offer? With all of his partners there was a certain reservation, as if they were holding themselves back. Yet just across the street there was someone offering themselves up on a plate: head tipped back and hair shimmying around broad shoulders as the dark one nipped at his lover’s exposed throat, tracing his tongue over the flicker of his pulse.

Roy swallowed, half-shocked at the growing bulge in his own trousers. God, it really had been too long. This should not be turning him on so much. He couldn’t even see their faces, but each caress was an age-old dance. They were both still clothed, both almost decent and respectable, yet they may as well have been fucking each other against the alley wall. 

Hints of growls and soft, needy sounds, half caught behind clenched teeth, kept teasing Roy’s ears. The unmistakable rasp of a fly echoed through the air, and Roy felt himself twitch in needy response as the blond ground himself up into his companion’s palm, hips jerking at the caress. They were getting desperately close to the point of no return. Every breath was taut and audible, painfully recognisable to anyone familiar with the games of the bedroom. 

As if reading his mind, the dark-haired one pulled back, murmuring something that Roy could not quite make out. He held his hand out, beckoning. After a moment’s panting pause his lover reached out, the silver of his automail glinting in the moonlight.

Icy surprise darted down Roy’s spine, followed by a sharper, hotter surge of fire that pooled in his stomach and between his legs. He barely had the sense to pull himself further back into the shadows as Ed was tugged out of the alley. His hair changed in the lamplight, not silver after all, but gold. It poured wealth down his back and tickled cheeks flushed with want. His lips were swollen with kisses, and Roy knew without looking that his eyes would be bronzed with need. 

Neither of them looked up or paid attention to anything but each other as they walked away, shoulder-to-shoulder and almost staggering, drunk with lust. They’d be going back to a bed somewhere. There was no way they could have teased each other so close and not be heading off to seek a place to finish what they started.

Roy leaned back against the wall, his breath escaping him in a tight moan as he ground his head against the brickwork. It was one thing to watch two strangers, but now – now he wasn’t so much embarrassed as impossibly horny. His mind was rich with images of Ed arched and groaning and earnest in his desire. What would it feel like to have that? To have aureate hair spread across his pillows and that young, lithe body arched up into his: steel and skin, hard and soft and wild?

Painfully he shifted his weight, forcing himself to start walking home to his empty bed. There would be no Angela and no Guye. Not tonight. There was just Ed filling his thoughts from one edge to the other, inescapable and beguiling. 

Ed was untouchable. Roy could never skim his palms over honey skin and silvered steel. He could never taste those kisses or lose himself in their shared passion. Worst of all, he had a sinking feeling that no one else could even aspire to be as intense a lover. In a handful of minutes his body had attuned itself to Ed, had witnessed too much and now would settle for nothing less.

Roy swore, kicking at a pebble and sending it skittering on ahead of him. He always wanted what he could not have. There was no going back. There was no way of unseeing what he had witnessed and, even though he was tormented by a want that he could not truly appease, Roy knew he would never willingly give up that brief, perfect glimpse of Ed’s sexuality.

In the end, that was all he could ever have.


	2. Unspeakable

Roy let out an aggravated sigh as he propped his elbows on his desk and clutched his head in his hands. His eyes felt gritty and strained from a night of broken sleep, but if he let them drift closed then he knew that his thoughts would return with painful inevitability to what he had seen the previous evening.

The sight of two young men - one practiced and smooth, the other raw and passionate - sharing caresses against an alley wall should not have held him so captivated. Yet the shorter youth, back pressed against the bricks and so alive under his partner's palms, stole Roy's breath away with his untamed sexuality. He was so open and honest and unashamed of his need that Roy had been enthralled, utterly unable to look away.

He could have forgotten about it, excused his own want as an unfortunate side-effect of being too busy to organise his own bedroom fun, but then the lovers stepped out into the light and recognition was a slap in the face. There was no mistaking the gleam of the automail right arm, sure and strong, or the fact that the shorter man's hair was not silvery as it first appeared, but warm, vivid gold.

Ed.

Roy groaned in disbelief, digging his fingers into his hair. Ed, who had haunted his dreams last night, writhing and hot and wanting under him, sharing short, ragged gasps and barely held in moans of encouragement. It felt so real that Roy had woken up already too far gone, panting into his pillows and caught up in the chains of his twisted sheets as his orgasm tore through him, leaving him shuddering in its wake.

Of course, he had noticed Ed's increasing attractiveness before – would have had to be blind to ignore that Ed had left boyhood far behind. There was nothing childish about his lean, muscular body. He had grown into a truly breath-taking man. 

Still, Roy had been able to ignore his low, sizzling desire. Ed made it easy. Before last night, there had been absolutely no indication that he viewed anyone in a remotely sexual light. People were just – people – practically meaningless and with little impact on Ed's life. For all his physical maturity, he seemed utterly disinterested in taking anyone to his bed, and still tended to be somewhat defensive over his personal space. Roy snorted to himself, almost ashamed of how naïve he had been. What young man was disinterested in sex once the hormones kicked in? 

Now, all he could think about was that Ed was not just a subordinate under his command. He was that – artless, lustful, eager and hungry for every kiss and taste and touch. How was Roy meant to ignore what he had seen? How was he meant to look at Ed and not be reminded of everything he wanted and was not allowed to have?

'Shit.'

'It's your own fault, sir.'

He jerked his head up in alarm, blinking at Hawkeye. He had not even heard her walk in, but she stood in front of his desk with a few files in her hand, watching him without a trace of pity.

'What?' He stared at her, trying to work out how she knew. Was it written on his forehead? Had he been talking out loud? Could she read his mind? The last thought was particularly horrifying, and he did not dare blink as she raised an eyebrow and gave him a vaguely puzzled look.

'It's your own fault if you're suffering from a hangover today, sir. You still have to do your work, no matter how bad you might feel.'

It took every ounce of his self-restraint not to breathe an audible sigh of relief. Of course, he had been clutching his head, and his misery could easily be attributed to an excess of alcohol the previous night. After all, it was not exactly a rare occurrence.

Grudgingly, with the air of a woman making a massive compromise between her superior officer's well-being and his productivity, Hawkeye picked up his cup. 'I'll get you some more coffee, sir, and those are due by noon.'

'Thank you, lieutenant. Is there anything else?' Roy asked, allowing himself to wince as if the bright sunlight that streamed through the window hurt his eyes.

'Only that Edward should be here soon to pick up his assignment.' She glanced at the clock, her lips pressed into a thin line as she added, 'He's already late.'

Roy watched her go, waiting until the door to his office was safely closed before he tipped his head to rest on the back of his chair. The ceiling was an expanse of white in front of his vision, and he frowned at it miserably. Of course, he knew that he would have to see Ed again eventually, but did it have to be so soon? Did it have to be now, when the wanton image of him was still burning bright and clear across his mind?

The mission brief had been lingering on his desk for days, and Roy could honestly say that Ed was the best alchemist for the job, but he could not ignore the faint growl of vindictiveness at sending Ed away now. He knew it was petty – knew it was a side of himself that he wished didn't exist - but a small part of him wanted to punish Ed and his nameless lover by keeping them apart. The army came first, and the sooner Ed learned that, the better.

It had absolutely nothing - nothing – to do with the tiny, creeping urge to snarl that Ed was his: his subordinate, his responsibility, his.

Roy sighed, picking up his pen and dragging the first file closer. If he concentrated hard then he could fool himself into believing that he was doing Ed a favour. If what had happened last night was a one-time-only thing, then Edward going away would not matter, and if it was meant to be then the relationship would survive a little distance. It was a test to see if the young man who had his hands all over Ed's body – clutching his hips, cupping his face, splaying across broad chest and flat stomach and lower – was worthy. 

After all, wasn't it Roy's job to make the physical and emotional well-being of the young man under his command his highest priority? He was his superior officer, and that meant he should be making sure that Ed was not about to make a massive mistake.

He blinked, forcing himself to focus on his work as his stomach churned and ached, not believing a word of his own excuse. The truth of it was that getting Ed out of Central was probably best for Roy. He had to get him out of his brain before his fascination turned into obsession. The further away Ed was, the better. At least then he would not be so horribly tempted to forget everything important – his goals and ambitions – and give in to serious thoughts of seduction.

The bang of the door being kicked open made him jump, and he glared as Ed strode into the room. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but Ed looked the same as he ever did. His hair was caught back in the ponytail he had taken to wearing once he had got Al back from the gate, his white gloves were startling against the black of his clothes, and gold eyes brimmed with the same old gleam of vague distrust and faint respect. 

It was so different from what Roy had seen last night that he briefly wondered if he had been mistaken. Maybe it hadn't been Ed after all. 

The collar of the black jacket shifted, and he caught a glimpse of a dark red mark near the scar around Ed's automail, right at the junction of his shoulder and neck. A bite – undeniably territorial. Someone else had marked Ed as their own, and the sight of their brand made something primitive roar deep in Roy's mind

'You got something for me, or not?'

He forced his expression not to flicker, making sure that his usual, distant mask was firmly in place as he handed over the file. 'There are some problems up near the Drachman border. I need you to report back on the situation. Let me know if military intervention is necessary.'

Ed huffed out a sigh, snatching the folder from Roy's hand and opening it up. He fanned the papers out along his arm, reading through the particulars with a bored look.

It was hard not to stare. Strands of aureate hair tickled Ed's cheeks, and he was biting his lip absently as the assignment began to catch his interest. Perhaps it was Roy's frame of mind that made that gesture seem sensual, but he found himself not just watching Ed, but actually seeing him. Had his body language always been so – so intimate? Did he always stand like that, leather stretched tight over muscled legs and his body angled just-so, not half-turned away and submissive but confidently face-to-face? Did he always tip his head slightly to the side, exposing the strong column of his throat and the thudding of his pulse?

Roy shifted his gaze to Ed's face and felt a shivering jolt of surprise as he realised that Ed wasn't reading at all, but watching him through lowered lashes, eyes burning and lips fractionally parted. He looked far too knowledgeable like that, as if he knew exactly what was going through Roy's mind. Was it his imagination, or was Ed blushing?

He blinked and, just like that, the moment was broken. Roy watched as he turned his head away, not missing the faint flicker of guilt on his features as Ed took a step back from his desk. 'Looks like I might be there a while,' he muttered, and Roy's body hummed at the rough edge in his voice. 'I'd better go pack, unless there's anything else you want?'

It was so painfully tempting to say, “You”, but Roy forced the word down, locking it up tight and unspeakable inside him. 'You're dismissed, Fullmetal.'

The door closed with a quiet click, and Roy waited a moment before lowering his forehead to the desk with a despairing groan. If only it was as easy to get rid of his memories, to purge his mind and body of their incessant demands for Ed, naked and hot and glorious beneath him.

He could not still be having these thoughts when Ed returned. He had to do something. Whatever it took, he had to make sure that, when Ed walked into his office again, all he saw was a young man under his command. Nothing more.

They said that absence made the heart grow fonder. For his sake, Roy hoped that the opposite was true.


	3. Unforgettable

'So, are you going to tell me what's wrong, or are you going to sulk all evening?'

Roy tilted his glass, watching the swirl of amber liquid and giving a faint grimace before saying, 'Generals don't sulk.'

'Could've fooled me,' Maes said softly, tapping his fingers in an idle rhythm. 'That's your fifth drink, and it's a week-night. Normally you have better sense than to get horribly drunk when you'll have to face Hawkeye the next day.' He snorted as Roy stubbornly flagged the bartender, ordering another as he drained the tumbler. 'She won't be merciful, you know. You'll have a wretched hangover, you'll wish you were dead, and you'll still have to do your paperwork.'

Wearily, he looked up at Hughes, ignoring the fact that the room did not quite keep up when he moved his head. His best friend was watching him thoughtfully, green eyes astute and all-seeing behind his glasses. There was no smile on his lips, and his brow was wrinkled in a frown of concern. On another day it would be funny, but Roy was too distracted to be amused.

He had a problem: a short, blond brat of a problem, and he doubted that Hughes could be of any help.

'I'm fine,' he mumbled. 'Talk about something else.'

'Like what? I've been holding up the conversation all night, not that you've been listening.' Hughes propped his elbow on the table and put his chin in his hand. 'Since it's becoming pretty clear that I'm going to have to drag you home and pour you into bed, at least tell me why you're hitting the bottle so hard tonight. You owe me that much.'

Roy gave a mirthless chuckle. 'Equivalent exchange.'

Hughes raised an eyebrow, and Roy cursed himself. This always happened. He didn't want to talk about something, but Maes dragged it out of him anyway, taking all the little clues and putting them together until he had the whole picture. It served him right for having a best friend in Intelligence. Nothing was sacred.

'Everything's all right at work, I would have heard about it if it wasn't,' Maes said, leaning back and crossing his arms. 'You've got no higher-ups giving you hassle and Hawkeye hasn't shot you – yet. So, if it's not professional, then it's personal. At least, that's the opinion of Breda and Havoc.'

Mustang gave him a weak glare but said nothing. He should have known that his men would notice his behaviour and take their concerns to Hughes. 

'To start with, Jean was happy that you seemed to be ignoring the secretaries,' Maes continued, 'but I think he's getting concerned about your lack of interest. Breda says that you're not making reservations at any of your usual restaurants, and even Hawkeye admits that your new found timeliness with your paperwork is making her uneasy.' Hughes emptied his glass and set it aside. 'I'm not sure what it is you're doing – sulking, moping – ' He gestured to the whisky as the bartender placed it on the table. '- or trying to forget something, but your friends are worried about you.'

A deep sigh whispered between Roy's lips, and he frowned irritably as Maes gave a faintly triumphant smile. 'They have no need to be concerned,' he retorted flatly, 'and neither do you.'

'No, of course not, because you're going to tell me what the problem is and put my mind at rest.' Hughes flashed a grin that made him look ten years younger, bright and open. 'Come on, Roy. It's not a messy breakup because there's not been anyone special in your life for years.' He chuckled when Roy opened his mouth to protest. 'Lovers aren't “special”. For you they're practically mundane. I mean that no one's broken your heart, but -' A pause, and he could practically hear the wheels turning in Maes' head.

'But what?' he asked dubiously.

The smile broke into a grin. 'But that doesn't mean that someone's not stolen it. That's it, isn't it? Someone's turned up who has the potential to be more than just the next in line.' Maes seemed to realise what he was saying and gave a puzzled frown. 'If that's the case then you should be happier. People in love aren't this miserable, so there must be some kind of problem.'

'You have no idea how wrong you are.' It was a firm, certain response, and Roy tried to ignore the edge of panic he detected in his own voice.

'You want them but you can't have them,' Hughes said quietly, almost to himself. 'Why would that be?'

'Maes -' Roy sighed, shoulders slumping.

'Married?'

'Maes -'

'Male?'

'Maes.'

'What?' Hughes shrugged. 'I'm not an idiot, Roy. I know gender's not a boundary for you. What kind of friend would I be if I hadn't worked that out by now?' He shifted in his chair and glanced up as someone pushed their way into the bar, bringing a gust of warm night air with them. 'You could stop my wild speculation simply by telling me what's going on, you know.'

Another thought seemed to strike him, and Roy watched in confusion as a faint flush of embarrassment stained Hughes' cheeks. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, his friend leaned forward and mumbled, 'It's not something more, um, medical, is it?'

Roy squinted in confusion. 'What?'

'You're not having trouble getting it -' Maes waved a hand vaguely. '-up are you, because you can probably take something for that.'

'No! That's – it's – it's not that.' He scowled. 'You're just going to keep embarrassing me until I tell you, aren't you?'

'I think you'll find that's what friends are for,' replied Maes, chuckling as Roy ran his hand through his hair. 'Come on, how bad can it be?'

Eventually, Roy slumped in defeat, and he gave a small nod of agreement as he set the glass aside. 'Fine. If it'll get you off my back, I'll tell you. A few weeks ago, I saw something when I was walking home from the bar – a couple in an alley, both male, if you must know. Normally I would have just kept going, but one of them....'

'Caught your attention?' Maes said with a grin. 'What was special about him? Gorgeous eyes, stunning body?'

Roy huffed a faint laugh. 'Well, yes, but it wasn't that.' He picked absently at a loose thread on his gloves before carrying on. 'You remember sex before you were married, right?'

'Yes, Roy, I'm not that old,' Maes muttered, frowning as he tried to see where the conversation was going. 'It was fun but not – not perfect, not like it is with my wonderful Gracia. I didn't trust any of them enough to be completely open so it always ended up being a kind of power struggle. What's that got to do with anything?'

'These two weren't long time partners, you could see that,' Roy explained. 'The whole thing had that “first time together” energy about it, but the one against the wall was completely open. He wasn't holding anything back. He was passionate and -' He stammered to a halt, giving an irritated, defensive shrug.

'Innocent?' Hughes suggested quietly. 'Not necessarily virginal, but the kind of person who treats their lovers as if they're the only other person in the world, even if they're only “the one” for a night?'

Mutely, Roy nodded, closing his eyes and rubbing a hand to his temple. The faint dizzy hum of alcohol was threatening to become a headache, and when he spoke again his voice was tight. 'I've never seen anyone like that before. Ever since, I've not been able to get him out of my head. I just – I can't stop thinking about him. He's unforgettable.'

'So what's the problem?' Hughes asked, leaning in closer as he tried to understand. 'Don't get me wrong, Roy, but I know you tend to take what you want, regardless of whether they belong to someone else. Just seduce him.'

'I've only ever done that if the person I was interested in was willing. It's not like I'm a home-wrecker, Maes. Besides, that's not what's stopping me.' Irritably he reached into his pocket, getting out some bank notes and leaving them on the table. 'You finished?'

Maes glanced at his empty glass and nodded. 'Yes, but don't think you can change the subject. Why is seduction not an option?'

'When they stepped out into the light, I recognised him.' He shrugged on his coat, walking a little unsteadily to the door as Maes got to his feet and followed him out. 'Just believe me when I say that bedding him is not a good idea.'

The night air whispered past his face as he stepped out onto the pavement. The first scents of autumn were on the breeze, mingling with the summer fragrance of Central. The new moon was a narrow sickle in the sky, but he spared it no more than a glance as he started to walk.

'You can't leave it there,' Maes pointed out. 'Who was it? Don't make me start guessing again.'

He sighed, bowing his head as he murmured, 'It was Ed.'

Hughes stopped dead, leaving Roy to wander on ahead a few steps. Looking over his shoulder at his friend, Roy's lips twisted in a faint smile. Maes' eyebrows were almost in his hairline, but his surprise was already fading, as if he were berating himself for not realising it before. 'Elric?' he asked, though it was not really a question.

'We don't know anyone else called “Ed”, do we?'

Slowly, they began walking again, the silence settling around them like a thick blanket. Roy wanted to believe that was the end of it, that Hughes would drop it and not mention it again, but he knew that Maes was turning the facts over in his mind as he digested this information. 

He did not speak until they were almost a block away from the bar, and when he did it was matter-of-fact and serious. 'I'm not going to insult your intelligence, Roy. It's obvious you've already thought of all the reasons why taking Ed, of all people, as a lover is dangerous to your career. If anyone found out -' He shook his head, not bothering to finish. 'What have you done to try and forget about him?'

'Everything. Drinking, working.... I sent him to Drachma, for God's sake.' He scowled at the pavement, kicking an empty beer bottle and listening to it clink away into the night. 'Now I'm just worried on top of everything else.'

'He's fine: reported in this morning and should be back in a week,' Hughes said absently. 'Have you tried sleeping with someone else? If it's just lust, then -'

'I wouldn't be thinking of them, and that's one thing I won't do. I might not implicitly trust my lovers, but I do respect them. I'm not going to use someone else like that. I'll just – I'll have to wait it out.'

'Yes, Roy, because that's been working so well up until now.' 

Ignoring Hughes' sarcasm, he turned the corner, walking more slowly as he neared home. All that awaited him there was an empty bed and needy dreams, and neither of those appealed. 'So what do you suggest?' he asked bluntly.

Maes shrugged, letting out a gusty sigh as he pushed his glasses up his nose. 'Got to admit, I don't know. If it was just about sex then I'd tell you to do what you're doing, to ignore it and hope it goes away, but you've never spoken about a potential lover that way before.'

'Desperately?'

'Lovingly.'

'Maes -' Roy shook his head, hesitating at the top of his street.

'Listen,' Hughes said, putting a hand on Roy's shoulder as he stopped at his side. 'A lot of things in life aren't worth the risk. You can live without them, but love's the one thing you put it all on the line for. You fight for it, regardless.' He shrugged, putting his hands in his pocket. 'I'm just saying, think about what you told me before you convince yourself that Ed's truly out of bounds.' He grinned, teeth white in the moonlight. 'Personally, I think Ed'll make a good partner. You'll never get bored. '

'You make it sound so easy,' Roy muttered.

Hughes nodded and backed away a few steps in the direction of his own home and waiting family. 'Hate to tell you, Roy, but the only person making it complicated is you.' Turning around he added, 'Sleep well, and think about what I said. It might be a chance worth taking.'

Roy watched him go, giving a faint groan of despair. He should have known this would happen, should have realised that Hughes would look at the whole situation and see - not the mess of want and deprivation and responsibility - but love, pure and simple. 

With a shake of his head, Roy stumbled down the street towards his house, groping clumsily in his pocket for the keys to his front door. He had been resigned to the fact that Ed was someone he could never touch or have or hold – had accepted the fact, and now his best friend, the man who probably knew him better than he knew himself, had turned his convictions upside-down.

With friends like Maes, who needed enemies?


	4. Unavoidable

Roy narrowed his eyes against the cold wind, taking a slow sip from the paper cup wrapped in his hands. The coffee was almost too hot to drink, but he swallowed it anyway, letting it sink into his stomach like a glowing coal. Summer had departed, and the autumn storms had arrived full-force, stripping the turning leaves in a stark warning of the bitter winter to come.

Normally, he would have had a car take him to work, but he felt like walking. The night had passed in restless tossing and turning, full of thin sleep and scattered dreams. Waking up early meant that he had plenty of time to begin his day, and Hawkeye was already suspicious enough of his behaviour without him showing up at work before she did.

He was tempted to pretend that nightmares had shredded his rest apart and driven him from the confines of his bed, but there was no point in lying to himself. His guts were filled with butterflies that thrashed at his insides, excited and unnerved in equal parts, all because Ed had returned home from Drachma last night.

Roy took another gulp of coffee as he entered the grounds of the command complex, flashing his watch before carrying on, lost in his thoughts. It shouldn't matter where Ed was, it should mean nothing to him, and yet – He sighed, scrubbing his gloved fingertips over his tired eyes – ever since Roy had seen Ed and his lover sharing touches in that alley, ever since he'd had his eyes opened to how passionate Ed could be, he had been helpless to forget it.

He'd hoped – prayed – that by the time Ed got back from the North, he would be able to look at him with nothing more than professional concern. Instead he was here, walking through the vicious gales because he was captivated at the thought of seeing Ed again. All Roy's attempts to purge his mind of this foolish desire had failed, and then, to make matters worse, Hughes had looked him in the eye, smiled, and calmly talked about love.

Even now it was tempting to scoff at the idea, to reject it out of hand because how could he possibly love Ed? They barely even liked each other. Ed's behaviour was rash and chaotic. He never followed orders and his moods were mercurial at best. He was chaos personified, and Roy was the opposite: calm, rational and always completely in control.

Yet Maes had a point. In the long history of Roy's love-life, no one had done this to him before. He had never been lost in thoughts of another person for a day, let alone weeks. Ed had been gone for almost two months, and Roy didn't think an hour had passed without his mind returning to dwell on the spectacle of Fullmetal. That alone was enough to make him edgy and suspicious of his own feelings. He knew too well that lust was a flash-fire. Left unfuelled by anything more concrete than imagination, it fizzled and died. Love endured it all: time, distance, everything.

'Shit,' he muttered to himself, turning into the narrow gap between two buildings - a short-cut to the office. If Maes hadn't said anything he would have struggled on and never thought anything of it. He would have ignored the cries of his body and focussed on his priorities, but now his heart had joined in the chorus – and it practically deafened him.

So what was he meant to do? He didn't know if Ed ever looked at him with anything other than anger in his eyes, and even if there was some element of mutual attraction, what was he supposed to do about it? Where did he even -?

Voices drifted towards his ears, breaking into his thoughts and making him pause. His heart thumped in his chest as he recognised who was speaking and he held his breath, listening intently. The wind was blowing towards him, and he could make out Al's every reproachful word.

'You could have at least come home last night and told me you were all right, brother. Did you have to go straight to Cole's?'

'He was waiting for me at the station,' Ed replied roughly, and Roy's eyes narrowed as he detected a hint of embarrassment in the older Elric's words. 'I got kind of – distracted. At least I called you.'

'That's not the point.' 

Their voices were ahead of him, and he knew they were probably walking along the edge of the parade ground towards the office. If they looked up at the right moment, they'd both see him hidden away down this little cut-through, and he scrambled to think of some excuse. He knew he should turn around and go back, take the long way around, but before he could move Ed spoke again.

'This isn't about me not coming home last night, is it? It's about Cole.' Muffled footsteps stopped, and Roy heard the scrape of boots on the ground as if he was turning to face his brother. When he continued, his voice was lower. They couldn't be more than a dozen paces away, blocked from Roy's sight by the close walls; he could still hear them almost perfectly. 'You said you understood, Al. You said it didn't make any difference!'

'It doesn't matter to me whether you sleep with girls or boys, brother. I just -' Al made a tight noise in his throat, and Roy remembered when every word had held the metallic ring of the armour: not any more. His words were untainted, emphasised only by his emotions. 'I think there are better people to spend your time with.' 

'Like who?' Al's response must have been non-verbal, because Ed's footsteps started up again, faster this time. 'I wish you'd get that out of your head. It's never going to happen.'

'Why not?'

'Because he's – it's – it's just not, all right?' The skitter and bounce of a loose stone reached Roy's ears, Ed had probably kicked it. 'Look, you don't have to like Cole. It's not like it's permanent, it's just fun.'

'Does Cole know that?' Al asked cautiously, 'because if he doesn't -'

'Course he knows. I'm not going to fuck someone about like that. That's not who I am.'

Roy pulled back as the two brothers walked by side-by-side, heads down-bent against the wind. He got no more of a fleeting glimpse of them. Al was closer, his youthful face pinched with worry as his lips pressed into a grim line. Ed was nothing more than a brief vision of black and gold, and Roy blew out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding as they carried on out of ear-shot.

'You know, some people might think that loitering in the shadows is suspicious,' someone murmured in his ear.

To his credit, Roy didn't jump with visible shock, but he did spill hot coffee over his fingers. Swearing and shaking his damp, stained glove he glared into Hughes' grinning face. 'Don't sneak up on people like that!'

'Sorry,' Maes replied, pushing his glasses up his nose and hunching his shoulders against the chill. 'I suppose you were too busy eavesdropping to notice me arrive.'

'I wasn't eavesdropping! I was minding my own business when they started talking. I couldn't help but overhear; it was unavoidable.' He said it all in a perfectly steady voice, and still his best friend shook his head, laughing out loud as Roy continued to glare.

'Of course. It was completely impossible for you to turn and walk away.' Green eyes took on a mischievous edge. 'I didn't hear all of it. What did I miss?'

Roy sighed, leaning back against the wall and taking several gulps of his cooling coffee. Maybe he shouldn't tell Maes. After all, this wasn't a game. It was Ed's personal life. Even if he hadn't exactly been discreet, he'd probably gut those responsible for gossiping about it behind his back. Still, Al's worry was enough to make Roy think twice. Al was rational, sensible – he didn't jump to conclusions or pass judgement without due consideration. He didn't approve of Ed's lover; there had to be a reason.

'I know the boy's name, “Cole”. I know that Al's aware of Ed's preferences and it doesn't bother him, but he doesn't like Ed's choice. That's about it.' He squinted sideways a Hughes, seeing the smile slip away as his friend gave that new information his attention. 'Al's normally a pretty good judge of character.'

Maes rocked back and forth on his heels thoughtfully, frowning at the ground as he murmured, 'Want me to check out Cole? See if there's anything suspicious about him?'

Roy drained his cup, screwing it up in his fist as he shook his head. 'I'm not a stalker, and you're not his father. Ed's a grown man, he can make his own mistakes. Besides, it's a waste of military resources, and you'll need a last name.'

'You underestimate me.' There was a glint in Hughes' eye that suggested he would go ahead and do a background check anyway. By the end of the day he would probably know Ed's lover better than Ed did. 'What are you going to do now?'

Pushing himself away from the wall, Roy started to walk slowly towards the office, his heart heavy in his chest. Ed had gone straight back into his lover's arms last night, as if the month or more at the Drachman border was meaningless. The relationship survived his absence, and Roy had to wonder if there was more to it all than simple “fun”, even if Ed told Al otherwise.

'Roy?'

He looked over his shoulder at his friend, seeing a flicker of sympathy as he replied, 'Get Ed's report and give him another assignment. There's nothing else I can do, is there?'

'This might sound like a crazy idea,' Hughes said quietly, 'but you could always tell him how you feel.'

Roy just shook his head, stepping out onto the parade ground and looking up at the command tower. There was no way he was telling Ed any of this. There were too many variables and risks, too many unknowns. He wasn't about to put his pride, his future, himself on the line without knowing how Ed felt in return.

He had to be sure: equivalent exchange.


	5. Unquestionable

The conversation Roy had overheard haunted him all the way back to the office. He had shooed Hughes off to Intelligence and now sat behind his desk, staring into space. There were files in front of him, but they remained untouched. He needed this time to brace himself for Ed's arrival. If he sensed anything out of the ordinary, he would get suspicious. Ed might not be very good at subtlety, but he was observant, and the last thing Roy needed was to get caught up in a web of awkward questions. 

He had to act as if nothing had changed. In theory, that should be easy. After all, nothing had changed. He was still Ed's commanding officer; Ed was still his subordinate. On the surface, things were the same as always, it was only Roy's thoughts and feelings that had blossomed into something new. Mercifully, those were locked tightly in the privacy of his own head, and that's where they would stay.

The fire crackled in the grate, defining the silence, and Roy risked a glance at the clock on the mantelpiece. Ed would have seen his brother to his usual spot in the library before coming to give in his report. He might even have stopped off at the canteen for breakfast, but still, shouldn't he be here by now?

Almost as soon as the question had fluttered across his mind, the door banged open, flung wide by Ed's boot. Within the same heartbeat, he had hooked it closed again, making the wood rattle in its frame as he strode across the carpet and dumped a few scrappy sheets of paper on Roy's desk. The ink was smudged and one of the corners had been ripped off, but Roy had seen worse. To be honest, he was glad to be getting a report from Ed at all. 

'Pointless waste of time,' Ed muttered, digging his hands in his pockets and meeting Roy's questioning gaze without blinking. 'One little scuffle and the border guards were crying out about a revolution.'

'They do live on the brink of a hostile nation, Fullmetal. The last thing they need is to have to worry about an unruly populace.' Roy checked over his words as he said them, secretly pleased that he had managed to construct a coherent, relevant sentence. Normally simple conversation would be beneath his pride, but as soon as Ed had stopped in front of his desk his mind had been wiped clean. His body was humming, resonating to Ed's presence. He had never been so aware of anyone in his life.

'Whatever. I froze my arse off for nothing.' Ed made a bee-line for the sofa, sprawling on its cushions as he lazily stretched his legs out and basked in the heat from the fire. 'Took weeks to get any information out of anyone, and by then the alchemist who started it had fucked off somewhere else.' 

Roy made a non-committal sound, hoping it didn't sound too choked as he skimmed his way through Ed's report. It looked like the alchemist was trying to stir things up between the border guards and the locals. He could be a Drachman insurgent trying to create trouble or just some kid causing mischief. Either way, it looked like Ed's assessment was right: it had been a fuss about nothing.

A movement out of the corner of his eyes made him look up, and Roy's mouth turned dry as he devoured the sight like a starving man. Ed's head was tipped back, eyes closed and face relaxed in the glory of the firelight. His collar was gaping open, giving Roy a glimpse of the hard line of his collarbone and smooth skin that vanished down into shadow. His hair caught the fire's glow, turning sullied crimsons and oranges to burnished gold and bronze. He looked … perfect.

'You're being really quiet,' Ed said, still not opening his eyes. 'Normally by now you've asked me a dozen stupid questions and given me a lecture about responsibility.' There was a moment's pause before he asked, 'You ill or something?'

'I'm fine, thank you,' Roy managed, forcing himself to look back at the pages in front of him. He cupped his face in his right hand, deliberately blocking his view of Edward with the curve of his bare palm as he tried to concentrate. 'As you said, it was a fuss about nothing.' He scowled, realising he'd just read the same sentence twice. 'It all seems straight-forward to me.' 

The whisper of fabric hushed through the air as Ed shifted, and Roy looked up into eyes that were shadowed with suspicion. Inwardly, he cursed his own foolishness, scrambling desperately for something to say that would throw Ed off the scent. He should have conjured up questions about the assignment and tried to be convincing, but how was he meant to concentrate when Ed was right there? His brain had been hijacked as soon as Fullmetal walked through the door, and now all he could do was watch, mesmerised as Ed got to his feet and walked back towards the desk.

Roy braced himself for the interrogation, trying to school his features into their usual distant mask, but it took all of his concentration simply to keep the feral hunger out of his eyes. With every step Ed took, Roy's heart seemed to thrum a little faster and every breath of air felt too hot. This was getting ridiculous. What was wrong with him? Ed was just Ed, the same as he'd always been, so why was being pinned in that amber scrutiny making him feel like this?

'Why did you even send me in the first place?' Ed asked, stopping in front of Roy with his hands in his pockets. 'What good did you think I could possibly do up there anyway?'

This, at least, he could deal with. Roy'd had his reasons other than getting Ed as far away as possible from Central. 'The situation needed your kind of pig-headed diplomacy. You're the first person who has actually been able to get to the bottom of what was going on up there. Everyone else was sent on a wild-goose chase. Besides, people will tell you things they won't tell someone in a uniform.'

He reached out to his left, groping for another file and thrusting it desperately towards Ed. 'Your next assignment. The Emerald Alchemist died recently in slightly unusual circumstances. We need someone to decode his research notes so we can work out whether it was accidental or – something else.'

Ed reached out to take the file and, just for a moment, his bare fingers touched the back of Roy's hand. It was like brushing against an electric wire. Raw heat jolted along Roy's arm, his nerves dazzled at the brief contact. It felt as if he'd been branded, so much so that he glanced at his hand to see if Ed's touch had left a mark.

His skin was as pale and unblemished as it had been before, and he risked a glance at Ed, his heart in his throat. Had he felt something similar? Had he reacted at all? In this art, at least, Roy had some skill. He knew the signs of physical attraction, could pick them out a mile away, and Ed was no exception. 

Darkened eyes, parted lips, flushed cheeks, it was all there: unquestionable suggestions of desire. Yet it wasn't the look of star-struck lust that Roy so often found in his lovers. This was intelligent and sharp, and he realised with a sudden thrill that Ed was probably reading exactly the same tell-tale signs from Roy's expression.

Abruptly, Ed tugged the file from his grasp, taking half a step back from the desk and clearing his throat awkwardly. His entire demeanour changed, going from confident and provocative to something more shielded and uncertain. He didn't even look up to meet Roy's eyes as he muttered, 'Can I go now, or what?'

Roy blinked, feeling off-balance and bereft. His hand still tingled with the memory of Ed's warmth, and he pursed his lips as he tried to understand. Was it possible that Ed was feeling guilty for his attraction? After all, he was involved with Cole. Did he think that chemistry with another person was some form of betrayal? Once, Roy would have thought that laughable, but now it was a kind of unique innocence that made his heart clench as it thudded out its bruised beat. 

'Dismissed,' he murmured, leaning back in his chair as Ed strode away, closing the door quietly behind himself for once. He could count on one hand the times that Ed hadn't slammed his way out of Roy's office, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Ed had never asked permission to take his leave before. Whatever the reason for this deviation from normality, it was enough to cement Roy's growing suspicion:

What was happening between him and Edward – whether it was attraction, desire or the first soft stirrings of love – was not one sided.

Ed felt it too.


	6. Undetectable

The canteen was normally deserted at this time of the evening. Tables stood in ranks, stark and bare, and the clatter of the kitchen provided an unlikely melody to Roy's thoughts. He sat with his back to the room, eyeing the pork chops doubtfully as he considered his options. Previous experience told him that the food here was barely edible, but he was out of supplies at home and had been working too late to get around to buying groceries.

'This is why you need a wife, or at least a significant other,' Maes pointed out from where he lounged opposite Roy. There was no plate in front of him, only a steaming mug of coffee. His dinner, lovingly made by Gracia, would be waiting for him when he got home. 'They could keep your cupboards full for you, save you from this kind of torment.' 

'I wouldn't expect anyone I chose to share my life with to see to my every need,' Roy mumbled, deciding the mashed potato was probably safe. 'Blind devotion irritates me.'

'Everything irritates you, these days. Ed's in Central and, as far as I can tell, he's been completely absorbed in his assignment. He's hardly even left the library since Monday, so what's your problem?'

Roy speared a bit of meat on the end of his fork, grimacing as he put it in his mouth. It tasted of old boots and had roughly the same consistency. Eventually he swallowed it and pushed his plate away. Starving to death was better than this. 'Nothing. Wait, what do you mean by “hardly”? Please don't tell me you've got Ed under surveillance.'

Maes shifted in his seat and shook his head. 'Of course not. What would that look like on the paperwork? I've just been keeping an eye on him, that's all.' He tapped his fingers on the mug before saying bluntly, 'He only leaves the library when Al drags him away or Cole shows up. I guess Ed's finally found something more interesting than alchemy.'

A rough grunt of annoyance was all that Roy could manage. It had been three days since he had told Ed to research the Emerald Alchemist's work, and he'd hoped that it would distract him from everything else. On the plus side, Ed hadn't gone to his lover without prompting, suggesting that Cole wasn't at the top of his list of priorities. Still, the dark-haired youth had been the only one able to tempt Ed out of the library without resorting to force; what did that say about their relationship?

He propped his chin on his hand, staring blankly over Hughes' shoulder at the wall. Ever since he had realised the attraction between himself and Edward was mutual, he had been trying to think of a way to broach the subject. However, there was no good way to say, “I want you. Please leave your lover and be with me instead.” 

Firstly, it was horribly arrogant. It relied entirely on the assumption that Ed was more interested in Roy than Cole, and so far he'd seen nothing to suggest that. Secondly, it left him too exposed, too vulnerable: heart on the line and no going back. He could always burn his rival to a crisp, but it was unlikely that Ed would find that romantic. 

Of course, seduction was an option, he had faith that he would succeed, but the thought left Roy feeling dirty with guilt. Ed wasn't a prize to be won. He was special - important. Roy knew that while he could probably lure Ed away from Cole's embrace, he would always wonder if he had been Ed's first choice or if he had simply clouded his judgement with charm.

He sighed, knowing what he was left with and hating it. He would have to wait for Ed to come to him. It was Ed's life, and such decisions were his to make. Patience had never been Roy's strong suit, and the thought of having to stand on the side-lines and wait to be chosen grated on his every nerve. Perhaps he could improve his chances a little? If he could just get some time alone with Ed – preferably somewhere away from work. If he could somehow show him that he was more than an officer behind a desk, maybe that would give Ed the little nudge he needed to make a decision.

Unless he'd already made his choice, and it was Cole. The thought sank into Roy's chest like a lead weight, and he screwed up his face. No, he refused to believe that. He'd not lost out to some – some boy that none of them knew anything about.

'If you could see the expression on your face right now... .' Hughes trailed off, hiding his grin behind his coffee cup. 'It's amazing to me that anyone has made you so unguarded, least of all Ed.'

'It's not funny, Maes.'

'Yes it is. It's very funny. Don't get me wrong, I feel for you, but after years of watching you prowl around it's just -' He shrugged gracefully. '- good to see you so shaken up for once. Gives me a bit of faith.'

'You just like to see me suffer.' Dimly, Roy heard footsteps walking across the canteen floor, but they were a faint sound on the edge of his conciousness, and he didn't even glance up as he said, 'Have you found out anything about Cole yet, or have you been too busy “keeping an eye” on Ed? Normally you know everything there is to know about someone in a day....' Belatedly, he realised that Hughes' eyes had narrowed in a pained wince, and some sixth-sense prickled a too-late sharp warning along the back of his neck. 

Oh shit.

He risked a glance over his shoulder and almost melted in relief when he realised it was Al, rather than Ed, standing behind him. Not that Alphonse was any less fierce when the situation called for it, but Ed was more likely to lash out first and ask questions later. As it was, Al's intelligent eyes were moving thoughtfully between the two of them, taking in everything. 'I heard what you just said, General. Are you spying on my brother?' he asked in a quiet voice.

'Whatever gave you that impression?' Maes said with a not-even-remotely-stealthy laugh, biting his lip when Al crossed his arms, waiting patiently for the inevitable confession. 'It was Roy's idea.'

Roy scowled. 'Our friendship can be terminated at any time,' he muttered, only half-joking. 'Besides, I didn't tell you to do anything, I've been specifically asking you to stay out of it.'

'And yet you're so interested to know all that I've found out,' Hughes reminded him, shaking his head. 'You can't play the innocent one now.'

'Thank you for watching out for him.' Al said, smiling as the two older men blinked in surprise. 'Brother hardly ever comes home anymore; I never know where he is, although I can guess. I've been worried about him, but I haven't been able to tell anyone why.' He straddled the bench next to Roy and looked towards the door, lowering his voice as he added, 'I promised brother I'd keep quiet, but there's something about Cole I don't like.'

'Then I take it that you want to hear what I found out?' Hughes asked. 'It means you'd be guilty of going behind your brother's back, even if it is for his own good.'

Al hesitated, and Roy had no doubt that he was weighing his options. Whatever was bothering Al about Cole, it had to be serious enough for him to risk his brother's wrath. 'I can deal with Ed. It's the two of you he'll tear limb from limb. Worst he can do is never speak to me again and, well, it might be worth it.' He took a deep breath, fixing Roy with an unwavering gaze. 'First, though, please tell me how you know about Cole.' He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. 'You had to find out somehow.'

'If they wanted to be discreet, they shouldn't have been getting intimate in an alley,' Roy replied, trying to stop the bitterness seeping into his words as the image of the two of them flashed across his mind's eye. 

'Ah, first love's always so intense,' Maes said, his smile fading at the disbelieving look that Al shot his way. 'What, not first love?'

Al said nothing, pressing his lips together meaningfully as he shook his head. 'Sorry, but I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Who Ed's been with in the past isn't really relevant.'

Either Alphonse was being incredibly cunning, or he was desperately bad at keeping secrets. Something in the young man's eyes told Roy it was the former. He wasn't giving them explicit information. Not names, not dates – he was respecting his brother's privacy while making sure that they knew as much about the situation as possible. He was telling them one thing: Ed wasn't new to the games of the bedroom. This wasn't a case of an innocent young man being caught up in his hormones for the first time. There was more to it than that.

Roy looked back at Hughes, seeing the discomfort on his friend's face as he put down his coffee cup with a sigh. 'I wish I had something to tell you, but the truth is that I found nothing. If he has any secrets, they're undetectable, even to me. He's squeaky clean.' Maes frowned as he added, 'That in itself is kind of suspicious. I've worked in Intelligence for too long to believe it. Everyone's got something to hide. Whatever his thing is, he's keeping it under wraps.'

'What exactly does that mean?' Al asked quietly, his head cocked slightly to one side as his fast mind worked. His worry was written in the tense lines of his face, and he was biting absently on his thumbnail as he suggested, 'Maybe we can't find anything dubious because there's nothing to be found.' He didn't sound like he believed a word he was saying, and Roy had to admit it was a bit of a stretch.

'Not likely, is it? You don't approve of Cole, that much is obvious or you wouldn't be sitting here.' Roy leant on his elbows and clasped his hands together as he chose his words carefully. 'Do you have any reason for disliking him?'

Al shifted in his seat, letting out an irritated huff as he shrugged. 'Ed says that whatever's between him and Cole is just for fun, but you only have to look at Cole's face when Ed's around to know it's more than that – at least to him. Brother would never hurt someone like that, but I think Cole's lying about how he feels to keep Ed close.'

'He wouldn't be the first person to hope that lust becomes love,' Roy pointed out.

Al shook his head, picking absently at the tabletop. 'Brother's not in love with Cole. I doubt he ever will be.' He looked at Roy and gave a weak half-smile. 'His heart's stuck on someone else.'

A sudden tightness clenched beneath Roy's ribs: a fierce mixture of hope and dread as he tried to read Alphonse's face. With Ed it was so easy, his emotions were right there on the surface, but Al was more subtle and far better at keeping his feelings to himself. They always said that still waters ran deep, and Al was a closed book to him. Yet there was something, some tiny inflection in his voice that made Roy wonder....

'Does this other person have a name?' he asked, ignoring the fact that his voice rasped over the words. 

Al's smile became a grin, and he shook his head as he got to his feet. 'You'll have to ask brother that yourself, General. Can you please let me know if you find out anything about Cole? If it was just that I thought he and Ed weren't on the same page, I'd let brother sort it out, but I've seen the look in Cole's eyes sometimes. It's -' Al shook his head as he tried to think of the right word. ' - selfish. I don't think he cares how Ed feels. It's all about him.'

'How about we agree to share information?' Hughes suggested, draining his coffee mug and moving to stand up. 'If you find out anything new from Ed, will you let us know?' When Al looked hesitant, he added, 'It's for your brother's safety, that's all. If Cole is as clean as he seems then we have nothing to worry about. None of us want to see Ed hurt, emotionally or otherwise.'

Roy said nothing. He knew that Maes was covering for him, showing parental concern as their driving motive, but it was useless. Al's expressive eyes were looking right at him, and Roy felt as if he might as well have been made of glass. Alphonse knew. Maybe he was reading Roy's mind, or maybe it was just written all over his skin for the world to see. Either way, Al probably suspected the real reason behind all of this curiosity and subterfuge.

Al's watched them thoughtfully for a moment before he nodded, his bright, open grin flashing out like the sun emerging from behind a cloud. 'I'll help you,' he promised, 'as long as you help me. Next week I start my studies, and I can't keep an eye on Ed while I'm in class. Could you -'

'Carry on with what we're doing?' Hughes asked, raising his eyebrow as he smiled and nodded. 'I was being honest when I said I didn't have him under surveillance. My men have always known to look out for Ed's activities over the years, they're used to it by now. We'll let you know if anything changes.'

'Thanks.' Al glanced up at the clock on the wall and grimaced. 'I'd better go and try to get brother out of the library. That is, if Cole hasn't got there first.' He bobbed in a neat little bow, respectful as always. 'Good night.'

'Night, Alphonse. Sleep well.' Roy watched him go, shaking his head as he rubbed at his eyes. He wanted to believe that all this was happening for Ed's own good - that he, Hughes and Al were doing him a favour by making sure that Cole was all he seemed, but that was a thin veil of an excuse. If Cole came back clean, would that change anything? Would Roy respect Ed's decisions, or would he only try harder to convince him that he could be better off by his side instead?

'Go home and get a takeaway, Roy,' Hughes suggested, getting to his feet, 'and for God's sake stop thinking. I can see the wheels turning in your head; you're second-guessing yourself, aren't you?' He put his hands in his pockets, glancing at the floor before looking up again. 'Want my advice?'

'Not really.'

Maes rolled his eyes. 'Tough, you're getting it anyway: Show Ed what he could have. You don't even have to say anything, just be yourself - not Brigadier-General Mustang, but Roy. He'll get the message. After that, you can leave it in his hands, can't you?'

'And what if I'm not his choice?' He hated the fear in his voice, but if Hughes heard any trace of that, he kept it to himself.

'Roy, right now he's probably not even aware he's got a chance with you. A quick thrill in the office isn't enough to let him make any kind of decision. You're afraid of what you've got to lose, not just your job or your future but your heart. Have you ever thought that he might be risking just as much?' Maes turned and walked away, casting a fond look in Roy's direction as he paused in the doorway.

'Prove to him you're worth it.'


	7. Unbreathable

_'Ahhh – Yes!'_

_Ed straddled his lap, body arched in a perfect, supple curve, Gold hair shimmied over his shoulders. Sweat dewed that honey-tanned skin, gleaming in the mellow firelight. Muscles bunched and shifted as he settled himself on Roy's hard length, taking him all the way in before lifting up again, repeating the motion as Roy clutched at Ed's hips, surging up to meet him._

_Arms, one flesh, the other steel, draped over Roy's shoulders, fingers catching in his hair and stroking his back as Ed leaned forward to sweep his tongue over Roy's lips. He tasted like life itself, and Roy returned the kiss hungrily as his body sang, driven onwards by every touch. A hoarse groan escaped his throat as Ed tightened around him, and he let his head fall back against the sofa cushions, gasping at the wet heat that lapped at his pulse._

_'I love you.'_

Roy jerked awake, blinking in confusion at his empty living room as the tatters of his dream slid away. The hardness between his legs was throbbing, and he winced as he shifted his weight. His lips still tingled from Ed's imagined kiss, and his fuddled senses were struggling to come to terms with the fact that he was alone. 

Someone knocked at his front door, loud and persistent, and Roy looked towards the hall. Was that what had woken him up, dragging him from a fantastic dream and rudely dumping him into reality? With a growl of irritation, he scrambled to his feet, ignoring the thud of his book falling to the floor. Who the hell was on his doorstep at this time of night? 

Before he padded out into the hall, he adjusted himself, trying to conceal the conspicuous evidence of his arousal. It wasn't perfect, but unless his mysterious visitor was staring directly at his crotch, they probably wouldn't notice.

Walking out of the living room, Roy yanked open the door, his breath stuttering in his throat as surprise shot down his spine. Ed looked up at him, huddled against the biting wind that chased its way down the street. Every breath steamed the air in front of his face, and his ponytail flicked wildly in the stormy night. For a brief moment, Roy wondered if this was some kind of dream within a dream. Had the cries of his subconscious mind somehow summoned Ed here, to his house? Was he even real?

'I need to borrow a book,' Ed snapped, eyes narrowed in irritation as Roy continued to stand there. 'Are you going to let me in or what?'

Definitely real, only Ed could sound so angry about something so mundane. 'A -?' Roy stammered, trying to drag together his stunned brain as he glanced at the clock. 'Fullmetal, it's almost midnight.'

'I know. The fucking library's shut for the weekend. You were the one who wanted to know about this idiot's arrays.' Ed waved the file that was clutched in his left hand, and Roy realised that bits of paper were bristling from the manilla folder as if Ed had gathered them up in a rush. 'I'll get the book and go, and you can get back to whatever you were doing.' He froze a little, raising an eyebrow as he looked Roy up and down, taking in his rumpled shirt, socked feet and tousled hair. 'What were you doing? There's not someone else with you, is there?'

Roy sighed as he stepped aside, waving Ed into the hall and closing out the night. 'No, I'm alone, and I was asleep.'

'With the lights on?' Ed asked, frowning when Roy just looked at him. 'If the house had been dark I wouldn't have bothered.' A flicker of something like guilt stuttered across his features, and he shrugged self-consciously. 'Didn't mean to wake you.'

'It's all right.' Roy gave a reassuring smile, still feeling knocked off-balance by Ed's presence. His sleep-fogged mind was slowly getting up to speed, and he realised that this could be the opportunity he had hoped for. He had wanted to spend time with Ed out of the office, and now the chance had been handed to him. Besides, he thought selfishly, if Ed was here then he wasn't with Cole. 

'What makes you think I've got the book you want?' he asked, keeping his tone light and curious. 

'There are fire elements to these arrays. They're almost hidden, but when you break the design down they're as clear as day.' Ed rubbed a hand over his left eye, and Roy noticed the dark shadows that lay beneath his lashes. 'I need to look at Menintaff's Theories. Al said he'd seen a copy on your shelf. Even if he's wrong, you've probably got something that can help me.'

Roy raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to be amazed or amused. Alphonse had never been in his house. There was no way he could possibly know what books he had. The younger Elric had taken a massive gamble sending Ed here, all in the name of – what? Keeping his brother busy, or handing him over to Roy? Either way it was a sign of faith, and Roy wasn't about to let it go to waste. 

Quickly, he tried to think of a way to keep Ed here, if only for an hour. He needed to show him that he was more than just a soldier, and alchemy was the perfect opening. Even if he couldn't hope to match Ed's brilliance, fire arrays and symbols were truly his area of expertise. 'I do have a copy of Menintaff, but it's a first edition.' He shrugged apologetically. 'Do you mind staying here to read it? It's not insured once it's out of the house.'

Ed looked at him, doubt giving way to a warmer, more comfortable emotion. His smile was faint and weary, but it was a hundred times better than the scowl. 'You sure?'

Roy nodded, gesturing to the living room door. 'Make yourself at home. Do you want some coffee – lots of sugar and no milk, right?'

'Right,' Ed confirmed. 'Thanks, Mustang.'

It was impossible to ignore the hint of grudging surprise in Ed's voice, as if he was confused by this unexpected hospitality. Not that Roy could blame him. In the office, he was normally too busy focussing on sorting out Ed's latest diplomatic disaster to think of the niceties, and turning up on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night was rarely met politely, let alone with any kind of enthusiasm.

Within minutes, Roy nudged his way into the lounge with a mug in each hand. It was a large room, and it doubled up easily as his study when Hawkeye forced him to take his paperwork home. Now there were a couple of abandoned piles stacked on the large desk, and Ed's palms were braced on the wooden surface as he scowled down at his notes, obviously hating the sight of them.

He looked up when Roy put one of the drinks down , his gaze following the wisp of steam ghosting from the surface before he lifted his eyes to Roy's face and grinned his thanks. 'You have no idea how much I need this.'

'I think I can guess,' Roy murmured, smiling as he took a sip. 'You know, you don't have to work all hours on this. The investigation's active, but the police do have other lines of enquiry.'

Ed snorted, but kept his opinion to himself as he shrugged. 'Wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Shut my eyes for a few hours and wake up feeling worse than before.' He shook his head. 'Better to solve this, then at least I can stop spazzing out about it and get some decent rest.'

That was worth remembering, in future. Ed's frank statement was more telling than he'd realised. In all those years spent searching for the stone, Roy had assumed that it was guilt and nightmares that robbed Ed of his peaceful nights. Of course, they had probably contributed, but he hadn't thought that Ed's stubborn determination to solve any mystery placed in front of him would be a roadblock to sleep.

Roy realised he should have known better. Ed sought to fit the world into an Empirical formula, to make sense of it in a precise, scientific light, and anything that challenged or confused those principles had to be met and conquered. To Ed, there was an answer for everything. Some people believed in God and miracles and saviours, but Ed's faith lay in his own abilities to understand things that left others baffled.

Well, maybe this time Roy could help him.

Setting down his mug, he walked to the shelves and reached for the book Ed wanted. Its coarse cover rasped against his fingertips, and he blew the fine layer of dust from its edge. He rarely had time to read any more, and most of his texts were sorely disused. 'Have you read Menintaff before, or is that a stupid question?' he asked, wrinkling his nose as he skimmed the dense text of the first page.

Ed glared at him for that, but it wasn't as hard as usual, and there was a distinct light of wry amusement in his tired eyes. 'Yeah. Dry, boring and he tends to slip into Drachman when he gets excited,' Ed replied. 'I might not need it. I mean, fire alchemy's your thing. Do these make sense to you?' He turned the pages towards Roy, standing back to let him get a better look. 

It was as close to asking for help as Ed would ever get, and Roy moved to his side, staring down at the designs with an intent frown. Ed had broken them down into their component parts. Most were easily identifiable, earth-based with one or two water elements to help control temperature, but there were some that looked alien and out of place.

Unsurprisingly, Ed was right. There were definitely fire attributes: sharp, jagged lines that Roy knew well, but the way they were being used.... 'His notes didn't tell you what he was doing?'

'No.' Ed sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He'd been doing that a lot, judging from the wrecked ponytail, and Roy forced himself not to stare at the delightfully rumpled image. 'He keeps talking about balance. At first the changes to the design are radical, but by the time he put this one together, they were tweaks, nothing more.' He tugged out a sheet of paper, showing an accurate sketch of the array that had been drawn next to the Emerald Alchemist's corpse. 'You said he died in unusual circumstances, but I couldn't find out anything about what happened to him.'

His tone made it a question, and Roy grimaced as he remembered the report. 'We don't really know. There wasn't a mark on him. He just dropped dead.'

'Well, he was old,' Ed pointed out. 'Could've been a heart attack, stroke. He might've been ill....'

'Fifty-two isn't old,' Roy replied, raising an eyebrow when Ed looked doubtful. 'Besides the autopsy gave him a clean bill of health, apart from the fact he was dead, of course.'

Ed rubbed at his forehead, heaving in a deep sigh before poring over the papers again. 'Fine, so it was the array. The answer's got to be here somewhere.' 

It was a miracle he didn't set the sketches alight with the intensity of his gaze, and Roy allowed himself a moment to simply watch Ed work. His body was braced, tense and unyielding as he bent his mind to the task. He chewed on his bottom lip as he thought, and the pen he held in his left hand skittered over the page as he scribbled down notes, making assumptions and exploring theories. 

Long hair tickled his cheek, and Roy clenched his fingers into a fist to stop himself from reaching out to sweep it back behind Ed's ear. He didn't have the right. Whatever was happening between himself and Ed, it wasn't something that could be rushed. As much as he ached to have Ed in his bed, to taste him and skim his fingers over warm, naked skin, he wanted more. Roy wanted to be there with him through everything, the extraordinary and the mundane. He wanted more than sex and satisfaction. There was so much potential between the two of them, and he wasn't about to let that slip through his fingers. 

'Have I got ink on my face or something?' Ed asked quietly, grinning down at the page before he shot a sideways glance at Roy. 'You're staring.' 

'Sorry,' Roy murmured, unable to stop the guilty smile from curving his lips as a faint heat brushed his cheeks. It seemed his ability to be subtle had vanished as soon as Ed walked through the door. 'You're fine. No ink, I was just – thinking.' He took another gulp of his coffee, forcing himself to focus. He wanted Ed to trust him, to feel that he was someone to turn to, and he wasn't going to earn that kind of friendship by gawking at him like a lovestruck teenager.

He dragged the paper closer, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ed as he pointed out a specific pattern amidst the designs, tracing it with his finger. 'These are definitely fire elements, but I've never seen them used like this before. Can you show me how they fit into the array as a whole?'

Ed nodded, sketching in quick, neat lines. Roy watched, noticing the details outlined in strong graphite. Ed constructed the skeleton of the circle first, showing the energy flow along certain lines before fitting the fire sigils in place, copying them perfectly. 'I checked the polarisation and their relative positions, but I couldn't see any problems,' he explained, tapping the pencil on the paper.

'Without knowing what it was meant to do, we're stuck,' Roy said. 'These symbols don't give the design much fire power; I wonder if they were a quick fix for a bigger flaw, like -'

Roy glanced at Ed, his words catching in his throat as he realised how close they were: no desk between them, and he could feel the whisper of Ed's body heat where their shoulders touched. If he chose to, Roy could reach out and cup Ed's jaw, could turn him away from the work that held his attention and tip his face upwards. He could press his lips to Ed's – dip his tongue inside and taste him – lose himself in all that heat….

Ed lifted his head and, instantly, their gazes locked, caught in a web of desire. Roy's heart lurched into a double-time beat as Ed licked his lips, eyes flicking down to Roy's mouth and back up again, the golden depths rapidly darkening in a way that made Roy feel weak with want. 

The air thickened, almost unbreathable; it pulled at Roy with invisible hands, urging him to tangle his fingers in Ed's hair and claim the kiss he longed for. Would Ed push him away, or would he draw him closer, open and willing and needy? Would he forget about Cole all together, or would his conscience remind him of his loyalty to his lover? 

Roy nearly gave in to the impulse, but something, some tiny flicker of doubt in Ed's eyes, made him hesitate. This wasn't the way he wanted things to begin. He wasn't about to become a thief, stealing kisses that weren't rightfully his. Whether he liked it or not, Ed had given himself to Cole. He could show Ed he wanted him, could show him that there was another choice, but he wasn't about to encourage betrayal. He didn't want the foundation of what they could have together to be built on unfaithfulness to another; not if he could help it.

Clearing his throat, he looked back down at the paper, trying to keep his breathing steady as he shifted his weight and struggled to gather his thoughts. 'Maybe it's a problem with the temperature or a falling energy yield?' he suggested, letting the roughness of his voice speak for itself as his body sparked and shivered, beautifully aware of Ed's proximity. 'The fire elements could have corrected those easily.'

For a moment Ed said nothing, and Roy could feel the weight of his gaze. He didn't look up, didn't dare, because if he met Ed's eyes again he knew he would be lost. His will was only so strong, and doing what was right paled in comparison to the thought of doing what he wanted.

He expected Ed to pull away or call him out on his behaviour, angry and confused about his refusal to act on the heat that simmered between them, yet none came. Roy could almost hear Ed thinking it through, calculating cause and effect and building up theories – not about alchemy but about this – this tingling chemistry that sparked and coiled in the air. 

Something moved in the corner of his vision, and Roy's breath locked in his throat as Ed reached across him, grabbing the book and brushing his arm against Roy's in the process. He didn't know what it was: an acceptance, an invitation, Ed testing a hypothesis – but it wasn't rejection, and that was all that mattered.

Glancing up he took in Ed's profile, seeing the smile that flirted on his lips and the faint flush lingering in his cheeks. It was so different, so unique to see him openly happy that Roy couldn't help but smile in return, buoyed by Ed's reaction. He wasn't prickly or hostile, at the very least he was intrigued, and Roy knew that one of the best ways to get his attention was to appeal to his insatiable curiosity. 

'That'd explain those two,' Ed murmured huskily, 'but not that one.' He brushed the symbol at the peak of the array complex, tapping his finger against it as he thought it through before giving a shrug. 'I'm not good at this kind of thing. Making up arrays is easy, but working out what the fuck was going through someone else's head?' He looked at Roy, still close, still tempting, but now there was far more than grudging respect in his eyes. 'Any ideas?'

'The Emerald Alchemist was a perfectionist; he was always obsessed with getting things exactly right. Maybe his earlier sketches can tell us what went wrong?'

Time slipped away as they examined every circle and symbol, every line and angle; it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but even though his eyes burned from searching and his neck was sore from leaning over the desk, Roy felt happy and relaxed, truly at ease for the first time in months. Ed made him forget about everything beyond the walls of his home, reducing wide, endless horizons to something soft and intimate.

He had set out to make Ed see him as more than a soldier, but Roy hadn't expected this: to be reminded how much more there was to himself than the uniform and responsibility. Ed dragged him into the simple joy of alchemy, tangled him in the puzzle and, even when they were frustrated and lost within the knot of their own ideas, still made him laugh out loud with his quick, dry wit.

The clock on the mantelpiece struck the hour, and Ed looked up, eyes wide in surprise as he stared at its face. 'It's four in the morning.' He huffed an embarrassed laugh. 'I told Al I'd be back in half an hour. Instead I've kept you awake all night. You should have said something!'

Roy shook his head, surprised by how quickly the night had slipped away in Ed's company. 'I didn't even notice how late it was getting. Do you need to get back to your brother?'

Ed nodded, and Roy was pleased to read more than a hint of regret in his expression. 'Thanks for putting up with me,' he said quietly, starting to gather up the paperwork they'd littered over most of the room. 'Al was ready to punch me in the face if I mentioned it one more time.'

'Why don't you leave some of it with me?' Roy suggested, his mind racing. It would be all too easy for this night to become a perfect oasis in the desert of their professional life. He had to think of a way to keep Ed coming back. 'Maybe if I look at it after a few hours’ sleep, I'll find something I missed tonight?'

Ed raised an eyebrow curiously, but if he saw through Roy's excuse, he didn't call him on it. Instead he split the sheaf of documents in two and left a slim stack on the desk. His lips were parted as if he was going to say something, but he shook the words away with a faint grin. 'Thanks. I didn't mean to turn up and dump my assignment on you.' With another glance at the clock, Ed grimaced. 'I really should get going. I'm kind of surprised Al hasn't tried to track me down. Normally he's freaking out if I'm a couple of minutes late.'

'He knows how you get caught up in things,' Roy pointed out, falling into step at Ed's side as he ambled out towards the hall. He had his suspicions about why Al had left them alone, but it was probably best to keep them to himself. 'Tell him I said “hello”.'

'I will.' Ed hesitated at the door. 'Thanks.'

'You're welcome.' Roy wished he could ask him to stay the night, the day, the weekend, forever if he wanted, but he knew he couldn't rush this; one step at a time. Opening the door, he watched Ed step out into the calm depths of the night, hands in pockets and eyes alight with too many emotions to count. 'Good night, Ed. Sleep well.'

'You too, Mustang.' Ed's grin flashed in the darkness, and the suggestive husk to his voice made Roy's body thrill all over again. 'Sweet dreams.'


	8. Undesirable

Roy jogged down the steps of Central Command, pulling the collar of his coat up and thrusting his hands into his pockets. The air was choked with a bitter chill, and a fine, misty rain fell from an overcast sky. Winter was on its way, earlier than usual, and he thought longingly of relaxing with a brandy in front of a roaring fire. 

However, his comfort would have to wait. He had received a cryptic message after lunch, scrawled in Hughes' familiar handwriting. It had been characteristically vague and uninformative, telling Roy to meet him at a café a short distance from headquarters. Maes had always enjoyed the cloak and dagger part of working in Intelligence, but something told Roy that this was more than his friend's usual eccentricity. Hughes had something important to say, and he didn't want to utter a word within earshot of the military.

Puddles had collected on the parade ground, and Roy strode through them without pause. He loathed the rain, and not just because water was the natural enemy of his alchemy. He hated the way the dampness crept through everything – clothes, skin, flesh – to take root in his bones. Normally weather like this would turn his mood foul, but the past few days had been too good to be ruined by a bit of drizzle.

It was almost a week ago that Ed had turned up on his doorstep, demanding access to his personal library, and he had been around at Roy's house every evening but one since then. The puzzle of the Emerald Alchemist's last array was tormenting them both, but Roy suspected it wasn't the enigma of the transmutation that had them captivated. He was drawn to Ed like a moth to the flame, and he hoped the same was true for Edward. 

There was certainly an undercurrent of intense attraction, and the hours in Ed's presence flew by while time apart dragged its feet and kicked its heels. Roy found himself automatically scanning every crowd for the flash of distinctive gold hair, and the one night Ed hadn't come over, he'd prowled his house, restless and distracted and trying not to think of who Ed was undoubtedly spending his time with.

Cole.

That had to be what Maes wanted to talk to him about. Perhaps he'd finally found out something about Edward's lover, something that would give foundation to Al's nebulous dislike of his brother's chosen bed-mate. 

Roy quickened his pace, turning left as he crossed the perimeter. He had promised himself that he would let Ed decide what he'd rather have: a new relationship with Roy or a continuation of his “fun” with Cole. In all the time they had spent together researching the arrays, they had shared nothing more than fleeting, accidental touches and intense looks. There was nothing more that Roy could do except wait, and patience had never been his forte.

Hurrying along the street, he saw the brightly coloured umbrellas outside the bistro. They were furled, crumpled like bird's wings and dripping with water, and Roy ignored them, nudging his way inside and breathing a sigh of relief as the warm, coffee-scented air wrapped around him like a cocoon. It didn't take him more than a second to pick out Maes, settled at a table towards the back, and Roy smiled as he saw Al's dark blonde hair.

Hughes beckoned to him, nudging a tall mug of coffee across the table as Roy sat down next to Alphonse. 'Took you long enough. Was Hawkeye holding you hostage until you finished your paperwork again?'

'She'd never do anything so undignified,' Roy replied, taking a sip of the steaming drink and relishing its heat. 'She did give me that look, though, the one that said I'd be taking it home if I don't get it done. I got here as quick as I could, but I'm sorry I kept you both waiting.'

Al grinned, shaking his head as he closed one of his text books and shoved it into his bag. 'I'm not in any hurry. My classes are over for the day.'

'How's school going?' Roy asked. He'd already heard Ed's version of Al's first week at college. He was studying medicine with a focus towards therapeutic alchemy and, from the sounds of it, Ed couldn't be any more pleased with his little brother's choice. More than once he'd spoken with a quiet pride about Al's aptitude, which had already dazzled his lecturers.

'Very well, thank you,' Al replied, ducking his head with pleasure at Roy's interest. 'I'm already familiar with anatomy, but a lot of it's completely new.' His expression faltered as he added, 'I just wish I could keep a better eye on my brother. I've done what I can, but I'm still worried about him.'

'We've been busy working on the Emerald Alchemist's arrays most nights,' Roy said reassuringly, not missing the brightness to Al's smile at his words. 'Ed's normally with me until the early hours of the morning, but I don't know where he goes after that.' 

That was a fact that had chafed at him. He was almost certain that Ed wouldn't go straight from his house to Cole's arms, but he hadn't dared to follow him and find out for himself. There was a fine line between interested and obsessive, and it was one he really didn't want to cross.

'Home, most of the time,' Alphonse said with confidence. 'I've been dragging him out of bed so he can get to work before I go to class, but I think he's still seeing Cole when he gets a chance.'

Roy did his best not to grimace outwardly at that bit of news, watching as Hughes flagged the waitress. He asked her for another cup of whatever he was drinking before he leant forward, propping his elbows on the table and watching the two of them over his clasped hands. 'I take it there's no sign of him ending it?'

Al shrugged, looking awkward. 'Brother doesn't tell me much. We used to share everything, but not anymore. He has seemed more thoughtful though, as if there's something on his mind, but he's not said anything about breaking it off.'

'Good. That's probably for the best.' Maes gave a strained smile when Roy stared at him, confused. 'I called you both here because I found out Cole's last name.'

Roy sighed, rolling his eyes incredulously. 'That's it? You've been working on this for weeks! You said you'd done a complete check. How did you do that without his last name?'

'It's “Thorne”. I knew that already.' Al frowned, looking puzzled as he dragged a hand through his hair. 'I could have told you if you asked.'

'His real last name.' Hughes sat back in his chair, allowing his statement to sink in before he continued. 'All the documents I could find easily, without resorting to methods that the military prefers not to admit, listed his surname as Thorne. However, I noticed something strange on the birth certificate and began to look deeper. I was careful, and it's just as well I was. His name is Cole Silverthorne.'

For a moment, Roy's mind drew a blank, and then it hit him like a fist to the brain. 'The Silverthorne? You're sure of that?'

'No doubt about it. His father is Dominic, and his grandfather is Marcus.' Maes grimaced, and Roy followed his gaze to see the confusion on Al's face. He didn't see the relevance, and that was no surprise. There were rumours about that particular family, but only among certain circles. The average Amestrian citizen knew the Silverthorne's were rich and nothing more.

'They're the most influential non-military dynasty in the country,' Roy explained, being sure to keep his voice low. He didn't want to be overhead by the wrong person. 'They hold the ear of the Prime Minister and the Fuhrer. Incredibly wealthy and ruthless with it. They're powerful, and some of their business dealings aren't exactly above-board.'

'They're crooks,' Hughes hissed bluntly, 'liars and cheats. They get away with it because they know which pockets to line, and they have friends in high places.' He fell silent as the waitress showed up with a full cup of something hot, giving her a friendly smile before watching her go. It was only when she was far enough away that he began to speak again.

'Once I knew about his family, I had a better idea of what to look for. Any undesirable incidents in Cole's past would have been hidden away, but there are plenty of good people out there who don't like turning a blind eye. I asked a few people that I trust some delicate questions, and they were able to tell me something that might be relevant.'

Roy felt a chill run down his spine. He knew when Maes was fooling around and being dramatic, but he had never seen his friend so serious. He looked pale with worry, as if he had opened up a can of worms too big to ignore, and now didn't know what to do about it. 'What was it?'

Hughes lifted his mug, hiding his lips behind his mug as he murmured, 'When he was eighteen, he was arrested on suspicion of murdering his lover.' 

Shocked silence settled over the table, dense and stifling. There was sound beyond them, the bustle of the café and cars in the street outside, but they were separated from it, trapped in a bubble of disbelief. Roy's mouth and throat were dry, and he swallowed as he shook his head incredulously. 'Are you sure?'

'There's no doubt about it. He was held and questioned for almost seventy-two hours.'

Al made a hoarse noise of horror. His eyes were like saucers and his face was bloodless as he hissed, 'Are you saying that my brother is sleeping with a murderer?'

Hughes pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced out of the window at the rain-washed world. 'He was never charged, and there's no way I can look at the evidence to see if something was covered up. I spoke to an ex-cop, an old friend of my father's. He was retiring the week Cole was brought in.'

Roy didn't take his eyes off of Maes' face as he tried to understand the nuances of emotion. He had seen many things in that expression before, from fury to joy, but now his eyes were downcast and his lips were bracketed with tense lines of concern. 'And?' he prompted.

'The boy fell down some stairs, broke his neck when he landed, but there was some doubt about whether or not he was pushed. The autopsy showed some interesting bruises – if nothing else it's safe to say that Cole has a temper.'

'So's my brother, but he'd never turn it against someone he cared for,' Al said grimly. 'We have to tell him! There's no way Ed knows about this. He wouldn't –' Al licked his lips, and his expression became more guarded as he chose his words with care. 'He would never tolerate violence in someone else's relationship, let alone his own.'

'That would mean telling him that we've been sneaking around behind his back and poking into his private life,' Maes pointed out quietly.

Roy took a gulp of his coffee, trying to ignore the flutters of panic. Next to him, Al bristled at Hughes' words, and Roy held out a hand, gesturing for silence. To Alphonse, Ed's safety was paramount, and he had to admit he was inclined to agree. However, Maes had to be hesitant for a reason; he would never knowingly allow Ed to endanger himself without good cause. There was more to this than they knew. 

'There's something you're not telling us, isn't there?' he asked, his mind working quickly as he tried to deduce the answer. 'What was special about the boy who died?'

It was the right question to ask, and Roy saw a tiny smile of acknowledgement on Hughes' face before he began to explain. 'Cole's had several lovers over the past few years. Most he got tired of and dropped accordingly. The lover who ended up dead tried to end it with Cole. No one else has done that, before or since. I imagine if Ed tries to walk away, Cole will show his true colours, whatever they may be.'

'Shit.' The quiet curse was little more than a whisper, and Roy propped his head in his hands, scrubbing at his tired eyes as he tried to think. All this time he had been hoping that Ed would leave Cole and choose him instead. Now it seemed that act could put Ed in more danger than any of them realised. 'Is there any chance that Cole was innocent? That he uses another name because he doesn't like being associated with the Silverthorne family?'

'He likes them well enough to live off their money,' Maes pointed out. 'It's possible that it was an accident that killed his lover, but that doesn't explain the fist-sized bruises on his ribs.' He shook his head, putting his coffee mug down and spreading his hands wide in a gesture of confusion. 'The boy who died wasn't weak or easily manipulated. He could have defended himself, but something stopped him.' 

Hughes hesitated, drumming his fingers on the table and shifting in his seat. 'I need to know more. What I've found is rumour and conjecture. I need something more concrete. Maybe if I talk to the dead boy's family, I'll be able to find out something that could help us to get Ed out of this.'

'And until then?' Al asked, his voice hard with angry disbelief. He was trying to remain polite, but it was obvious his manners took second place to his brother's well-being. 'You think we should just carry on as normal?'

Maes pushed his glasses up his nose, rubbing at his eyes and squinting at Roy for a moment before he clenched his hands into fists on the tabletop. 'I don't like it any more than you do, but if we tell Ed what we've found out, he'll break up with Cole. For all we know, that's the trigger for Cole's violent behaviour.' He lifted his chin, meeting Roy's eyes meaningfully. 'The last thing any of us want is for Ed to get hurt. We need a plan to help him out of this mess. Once we've planned for every outcome, then we'll tell him. Okay?'

'And if Cole loses his temper before then?' Al sighed when he got no answer, and Roy looked up to see the younger Elric biting his lip. His expression was conflicted, torn between getting Ed out of Cole's arms now and thinking of his long-term safety. 'This is my fault,' he said at last. 'I should have asked Ed more questions about him, should have made brother see that there was something wrong. He's not an idiot: he wouldn't give just anyone even a little bit of his trust; he must have been lied to.' He glared miserably at the water-streaked glass. 'I need to talk to him – now, before he sees Cole again tonight.'

Roy got to his feet, letting the younger Elric slide out of the booth. 'What are you going to say?' he asked quietly, glancing over as Maes paid the tab and stacked up empty cups.

'I – I don't know.' Al bowed his head, scowling at the floor as he tried to think. 'Mr Hughes is right. I can't just tell Ed, not when I know that his reaction could be what makes Cole throw a punch, but I can't do nothing!' He looked up at Roy with desperate, pleading eyes. 'Do you have any ideas?'

It was difficult to think logically when every fibre of Roy's being was telling him to find Ed and take him home, to cradle him and keep him safe from the threat that Cole had become, but he forced his feelings down as he considered their options. 'Ask Ed how things are going with Cole. Try and get as much information from him as possible, and if he's thinking of breaking things off – ' Roy swallowed, hardly able to believe what he was about to say. 'If he's thinking of ending it, try and convince him otherwise, just in case. For now, that's all we can do.'

He gritted his teeth as Al nodded and bid them farewell, striding quickly across the café and out into the rain. Roy let out a wretched sigh, looking up as Hughes tapped him on the shoulder. 

'We'll work out how to keep Ed safe, Roy. The Silverthornes might be powerful, but they're not all-mighty. They can be manipulated just like everyone else.' He shrugged on his coat and gave a sad sort of smile. 'You're good at that, remember?'

'I need you to find out everything you can,' Roy murmured. 'Everything. I need to know why the boy who died didn't defend himself. Was he blackmailed into silence? Did Cole threaten more than his personal safety?' He shook his head, wishing he could jolt his panicked thoughts into some kind of sensible order. ‘There must be something we’re not seeing. 

'I promise,' Hughes said quietly, his green eyes shadowed with concern and sadness. ‘Get home and try to relax. I'll let you know the moment I've got more information.'

Silently, Roy followed his friend out of the door, grimacing as the rain smacked his face and the brightness of his mood ebbed to nothing. He felt helpless and lost; fear had seized him, reducing his vaunted strategical mind to a thousand panicked butterflies of thought that he couldn't even catch. He only knew one thing for certain:

This wasn't a game anymore; it wasn't a fight for Ed's affections. Victory and defeat played no part in it, because now all that mattered was making sure that Ed didn't suffer the same fate as Cole's nameless lover.

Whatever it took to keep Ed safe: he'd do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A belated Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and happy nearly December to everyone else! You can follow me over on [twitter](https://twitter.com/BD_Strike) or tumblr if you want to keep up with me and my life =D


	9. Unreadable

Roy kicked at a loose stone, watching it skip and rattle along the pavement. It broke the dappled puddles before clattering down the drain: lost in the darkness. He knew how that felt. A few hours ago he had been confident and happy, sure in his plan to win Ed's heart and pleased with its progress. Now all that had changed.

A part of him still couldn't believe what Maes had told him. Of course, he'd known there was something wrong with Ed's current lover, Cole, as soon as he had heard Al's doubts. The younger Elric was always looking out for his brother's best interests. He didn't take a dislike to someone easily, but none of them had realised how bad it could be. 

It wasn't that Cole was a bad influence, not exactly. Roy had suspected he might be the jealous type, one who was too possessive to give their partner free will, but he had never thought... . He swallowed, forcing himself to face what Hughes had told him. The only partner who had ever tried to leave Cole had ended up dead at the bottom of a staircase.

He might have slipped, Roy reminded himself, trying to find some element of comfort. For all he knew, Cole had been a bystander to the whole event. It was a flimsy hope, and Roy sighed as he tried to sort out his mess of thoughts. One thing was bothering him: he might not know Cole, but Ed did. You couldn't share a bed with someone without learning about who they were as a person; how could Ed not see the darkness in the man he chose to share himself with?

_Love is blind._

The thought fluttered through the gloomy vault of Roy's mind, and he grimaced as he shook it aside. Ed wasn't in love with Cole; he'd said it himself. So if he wasn't being fooled by his emotions, then how could he not know the truth? Was Cole that good at hiding himself behind dishonest façades? Could he really fool those around him into thinking he was loving, rather than ruthless?

Was he so good in bed that his partners simply didn't care about his past?

Roy dismissed that thought as impossible. No one was that good. Keeping secrets caught up with a man eventually, and they would catch up with Cole, too. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

Whatever was going on, Roy knew that he couldn't give Ed any more encouragement to end the relationship, not now. There was too much at risk. His need to have Ed, not just in his arms but in his life, was only outweighed by the necessity of keeping him safe. He would make sure that Ed didn't come to any harm, even if it meant letting him go.

That idea clutched at Roy's heart with claw-like fingers, and he drew in a shuddering breath of the damp air as he tried to deal with the hurt. It was a last resort, a temporary solution, he promised himself. This was a setback, not defeat. He had to remember that.

Turning the corner to his street, Roy frowned as he saw someone standing on the steps leading up to his front door. They were leaning against the wall, huddled under the eaves as they waited. Dark hair was spiked with the rain, and it didn't take Roy more than a couple of seconds to recognise the youth who was watching him approach with brown, angry eyes.

Speak of the devil.

'Can I help you?' he asked, being careful to keep his voice void of any recognition as Cole straightened up. He was only a couple of inches shorter than Roy, and his shoulders were broad. He kept in shape, but Roy suspected he rarely threw a punch. A silver band gleamed on the thumb of his right hand. It had a motif of thorny vines, and Roy recognised it as a family ring. Cole might not tell people his real last name, but he didn't exactly hide his connections, either.

'Don't play dumb, General,' Cole replied. His voice was clipped and well-educated, and Roy raised an eyebrow as he noticed the hard disdain in the younger man's eyes. Whatever vision he presented to Ed, he wasn't bothering to hide his true feelings from anyone else. 'You know why I'm here. Elric's mine, and I'm not letting you have him.'

'I don't know what you mean.' It was a dismissive murmur, neither antagonistic nor submissive. Cole might be able to manipulate others, but Roy had been playing the game for much longer. He had better control of his anger – knew when to use it and when to keep it on its leash. Cole didn't. 'Fullmetal is a subordinate under my command; nothing more.'

Cole snorted, shifting his weight to stand with his feet braced apart. He had stayed on the steps, giving himself the height advantage. His body language was aggressive and dominant, and maybe on someone else it would have worked, but Roy was too good at this game to let himself be swayed by little tricks. 'He's over here almost every night – says he's working, but he blushes every time he says your name.'

His expression changed, turning superior and smug. 'I know you're not fucking him. I can tell when someone's been playing in what's mine. Still, that doesn't mean you don't want to. Does it make you angry, knowing that he goes straight from this place to me – my arms, my bed – legs spread and moaning _my_ name?' He gave a rough laugh, biting his lip as his eyes gleamed. 'I can't blame you for wanting him, General. He's a good little slut – really knows how to keep me satisfied.'

It took every ounce of Roy's will to keep his expression unreadable. In his pockets, his hands were clenched into tight fists, his knuckles aching with the urge to snap. One quick burst of flame and this arrogant little shit would be less than ash, a sooty mark on his steps and nothing more: problem solved. He deserved no better for speaking about Ed as if he were nothing but a pretty thing to do Cole's bidding. 

Except that wasn't an urge Roy could satisfy. Someone was bound to miss Cole sooner or later, and he didn't want to have to deal with the awkward questions. Besides, he was relatively sure Ed could overlook a lot of things, but murder, even in the name of his own good, wasn't one of them.

Slowly, he curved one eyebrow upwards, giving an eloquent shrug as he replied, 'What Fullmetal does in his spare time is none of my concern. He was telling you the truth: we're working in the evenings. I'm afraid long hours are necessary in the military.'

Cole's eyes narrowed, and he strode down the steps, stopping a few inches in front of Roy as he folded his arms and said calmly, 'Last thing I heard, rules were necessary in the military too. I know who you are, Mustang, and I know who you want to be. What would a rumour that you're screwing your subordinate do to your ambitions?'

'Unfortunately, that kind of gossip isn't anything new.' Roy replied, barely missing a beat. 'There have been suggestions of improper conduct ever since Major Elric signed up. Six years later and nothing's come of it.'

'Perhaps they haven't been loud enough.' Cole's smile was cold and ruthless. 'Believe me, if I think you're doing anything to try and steal Elric away from me, I'll make sure the Fuhrer can't fail to hear about your misconduct. You can't climb the ranks if you're thrown out of the army now, can you?' He glanced idly down the street before looking back at Roy. 'I have to go. Unlike you, old man, I've got a young blonde to keep my bed warm, and I plan to put him to very good use.'

'One question.' Roy allowed himself a small smirk of satisfaction as Cole paused, half-turned away. His expression was surprised, as if he'd expected Roy to be cowed into silence by his threats. 'What makes you think the Fuhrer will listen to a boy who's not even in the military?'

'Don't play games,' Cole snapped, his face twisted in an ugly snarl as he gestured with his hand. 'I saw you looking at the ring. You know of my family, and you know of their strength. The Fuhrer wouldn't dare ignore me.' He lifted his chin, letting his dark eyes trail derisively down to Roy's boots and back up again. 'He would rather lose one of his most promising officers than face our displeasure. This is your only warning, Mustang. You keep this up, and your world's going to come crashing down. I'll make sure of it.'

'If you need to resort to threats in order to keep a lover, then you're doing something wrong,' Roy said quietly, seeing Cole turn pale with anger. He shouldn't rile him; for all his childishness, Cole was a threat, but he was damned if he was going to let the brat get the last word. 'Edward must be dissatisfied with something, although I wouldn't want to speculate about what.' He let his gaze flicker pointedly below Cole's belt before he nodded a dismissal and turned to walk up the steps.

'Fuck you, Mustang!' Cole finally managed to splutter. 'You can say whatever shit you want, because I've still won. He's mine, and there's nothing you can do about it.' He spun on his heel and strode away, but the swagger was gone from his walk, and Roy allowed himself a faint grin. Cole had come here hoping to intimidate the competition, but, whatever Roy might be feeling inside, he'd made sure to keep his face bland and uncaring.

People expected certain reactions; they believed that others responded in pre-set ways, and Roy had learned long ago that placid indifference was the best way to gain the advantage. While the other person was left choking with rage and confusion, he could see everything they thought was hidden. He could grasp what he was facing and begin to plot a way of dealing with it.

Turning the key in the lock, he pushed his way into the front hall and shut out the world before striding towards the telephone. His coat was damp and he felt chilled through to the bone, but this couldn't wait. He dialled the number he knew off by heart and waited for a bare two rings before Maes answered.

'Guess who was waiting on my doorstep?' he asked, not bothering with a greeting as he clamped the receiver between his jaw and shoulder and wrestled his way out his coat.

'I'm guessing it wasn't Ed?'' Maes' voice was curious. 'Is this going to be helpful towards my surveillance?'

Roy gave a huff of sarcastic laughter. 'I'd say so. Cole wanted to warn me off. He thinks I'm encroaching on his territory.'

'Well, you are, although if Ed heard anyone call him “territory” he'd gut them in a second. What did you do?' Hughes' next words were edged with a mixture of light-hearted teasing and subtle dread. 'Please tell me you didn't set him on fire. Gracia says I'm not allowed to help you move bodies any more.'

'I have never asked you to move bodies.' Roy sniffed, unable to stop the weak grin at his friend's exaggeration. 'I can't incriminate you when you've got a family to look after. I behaved myself. Mostly I watched his expression and body language.'

'And?'

Quickly, he explained everything that had happened, outlining Cole's posturing and threats. 'He spoke about Ed like he was an object, not a person. Cole's possessive, vindictive and used to getting his own way. He has a temper, a violent one, probably.'

Maes' sigh crackled on the line, and Roy could hear the chime of crockery in the background as Gracia got dinner ready. 'Do you think he's capable of murder?' he whispered.

He hesitated, pushing aside his gut reaction and giving it some thought. 'I think he has poor control over his anger,' he said at last, 'and that could cause him to lash out with fatal consequences. He'd be capable of a spur of the moment attack, but I don't think he'd set out with murder in mind. You know how easy it can be in a fight to lose sight of your surroundings. A quick, aggressive shove and suddenly his lover's falling backwards down a flight of stairs he'd forgotten was there.'

'The end result's still the same, Roy, and the kid's threats aren't empty. Your conduct's already been investigated and cleared by the Fuhrer, but if he gets word from the Silverthornes that something's going on, then he'll look into it all over again.' There was silence on the other end of the line, and Roy could practically hear the wheels turning in Hughes' head. 'I'll get onto it first thing in the morning. I might have some kind of plan but -'

'But?' Roy asked, his voice low with doubt.

'But we're going to need Ed's help, which means telling him what we've been doing.'

Roy closed his eyes for a moment before meeting the gaze of his reflection in the mirror by the phone. A part of him knew that he would have had to explain things to Ed sooner or later. He wanted to build a meaningful relationship, and a foundation of lies wouldn't be strong enough to stand the test of time. Still, he'd hoped to put it off for as long as possible. 'I can do that if I have to,' he said eventually. 'What's the plan?'

'Give me twenty-four hours, Roy. I need more information before I can be sure, but I might be able to see a way to get Ed out of Cole's grip, as well as safe-guard the two of you against any of his trouble-making. Go and curl up in front of the fire. Try to relax, and let me deal with this.'

Quietly, Roy agreed, bidding Hughes good night before placing the receiver back in its cradle. He looked around at the empty twilight of his hallway. He had spent too long in Ed's company, was too used to his quick intelligence and bright, startling laughter. Now his home seemed empty without it.

Toeing off his boots, he padded through to the living room, undoing his jacket and pitching it aside before lighting the fire with a snap of his fingers. Instantly, warm light flooded the room, and he rolled his shoulders as it skimmed over his skin, banishing the icy touch of the elements from his flesh. The brandy bottle chinked on the tumbler as he splashed a generous amount in the bottom of the glass. 

He took a sip, hesitating as his gaze fell on a stack of papers on his desk: the Emerald Alchemist's work. Thoughtfully, he pulled the documents towards him, skimming through Ed's scrawled notes as he sauntered back to the sofa. Work didn't stop just because his personal life was turning into a tangled mess. 

Roy tried to concentrate, but timid little fears kept whispering in his mind and his stomach was twisting itself in knots. When all this was over, when Ed knew that Roy had interfered in his private life, would he forgive him, or would he turn away?

There was only one way to find out. For Ed's good, Roy was going to have to face up to his fury and tell him everything. All he could do was hope that, once it was all over, he wouldn't have lost Ed's trust forever.


	10. Unshakeable

Two days ago, Roy had come home to find Cole Silverthorne waiting on his doorstep The pompous little brat had stood there like a general giving orders, telling him to keep his hands off of Ed. Roy had itched to put him in his place, but it wasn't that simple. Cole had powerful connections and, as much as he hated it, Roy had to respect the fact that he represented a valid threat, not only to Ed's safety, but to everyone else's as well.

Hughes had promised to come up with a brilliant plan to work out all of their problems, but so far, he had nothing. It wasn't Maes' fault, Roy knew that. He was trying his best, but the information was thin on the ground, perfectly concealed by well-paid bribes and favours. All he'd been able to find out for certain was that Cole had threatened his previous lover in order to make him think twice about walking away. Everyone had a weakness, a target for blackmail, and he had made good use of that. When the boy had decided to get out and damn the consequences, he had died as a result.

Now it wasn't some stranger in Cole's clutches, it was Ed, and Roy couldn't even warn him. Hughes had begged him to keep quiet and wait for the right moment. Timing was everything. If they showed their hand too early, Cole would strike like a snake, and they'd all suffer. 

Roy hadn't said a word to Edward about the conversation he'd had with Cole. If Ed knew that his lover had treated him like nothing more than property, something to be claimed, then Ed would probably end their relationship without a second thought, and Cole would react as his wounded pride dictated.

For now, Ed had to be kept in the dark, and Roy had to stop tempting him away from another man's embrace. He didn't want Ed to end up on the receiving end of a possessive lover's rage because of him. Of course, it was obvious that Ed would outclass Cole in a physical fight. He could defend himself with ease if he had to, but, when the time came, it was unlikely to be a battle of brute force. Cole would take him by surprise, lash out when Ed wasn't expecting it, and if he hit back then the whole thing really would go to hell.

The Silverthornes didn't take assaults on their family members kindly. If Cole chose to tell his father what had happened, Ed would be hunted down and punished. It would be quiet, discreet and devastating, and there were some people even Ed couldn't fight against and win.

Roy gritted his teeth, hating the stalemate in which they were captured. Somehow, Cole had ended up holding all the cards. The power was his, and the slightest wrong move could bring everything crashing down around their ears. He longed to lash out, to neutralise the threat in a quick veil of fire, but it wouldn't end with that quick retribution. There would always be someone else waiting in the shadows, ready to act out their revenge. 

Cole's family were known for holding a grudge. They didn't have any enemies, but it wasn't because they'd never made any. Any foe was simply dealt with and then forgotten. Roy wasn't about to let Ed become one of the nameless victims just because he bruised some spoilt brat's ego.

He blinked at the documents in front of him, trying to focus on work rather than the frantic spin of his thoughts, but it was useless. Ed had come over straight after work to continue looking at the Emerald Alchemist's dossiers, and now the two of them stood at the desk, working in comfortable silence.

Roy glanced up at Ed, watching his profile from beneath his lashes. He had considered turning him away at the door, making some excuse and keeping his distance, but he hadn't had the strength. These meetings were the only chance he got to connect with Ed on a significant level – to check his well-being and read all the little emotions written on his features. They were his only chance of seeing him in a non-professional setting and, even though he knew it was for the best, Roy couldn't give that up.

'I think the fucker got eaten by his array.' Ed sighed, throwing his pencil down on the desk and rolling his shoulders before rubbing at the nape of his neck. It was an innocent gesture, but it made Roy's palms tingle with the urge to brush Ed's fingers away and rub at those tired muscles himself. He wanted to drop a kiss to the column of his neck and taste his warm skin, to breathe in the scent of him and lose himself in all of Ed's passion....

No.

He shut his eyes and turned away, squaring his shoulders as his stomach clenched. Ed embodied all of his desires, but there was nothing in the world that could make him give into temptation: not now that he knew how dangerous Cole could be. Roy wasn't concerned for himself or his ambitions, Cole's threats meant nothing to him, but he was worried for Ed, who was walking into his lover's arms blind to the truth. He wasn't about to make Ed's situation worse than it already was.

'You could be right,' he said, clearing the roughness from his voice and trying to inject some life into his words. 'The energy flow in the design required a very fine balancing act, and one tiny miscalculation would have caused a cascade reaction. It would have dragged the power right out of him, fried his brain and left him dead. He -'

Roy paused as Ed reached across him for another document, his arm pressing against Roy's as it had done so many times before. His warmth was electrifying, and Roy swallowed, trying not to tremble as he allowed himself one brief moment to enjoy their proximity before stepping away.

The distance was like an icicle through his heart, but he braced himself against the chill and carried on talking, trying to sound casual and indifferent. 'He wouldn't have even known it was happening. All we have to do is isolate the problem and then we can close this file.'

Roy didn't dare to look at Ed, because he knew those gold eyes would be dimmed with hurt confusion. He didn't blame him. Before today, Roy would have returned the flirtatious touch and encouraged closeness, but now things were different. Ed would probably think he was being manipulative and leading him on in some cruel game. It was an understandable conclusion, and Roy could do nothing to tell him otherwise.

'It'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack, trying to find out what he did wrong,' Ed said quietly, and Roy glanced at him to see that his eyes were downcast and his shoulders were slumped. He thought Ed was going to say something else, was going to call him out on his behaviour and demand some answers, but the clock on the mantel struck seven in the evening, cutting him off before he even began. Ed glared at the timepiece before he shook his head angrily, collecting up the files as he muttered, 'I guess I'll start on it tomorrow. I need to get going.'

A thousand words caught in Roy's throat: pleas for understanding, tender promises, desperate hope, but none of them could be said. 'Of course,' he replied weakly, trying to breathe around the swelling knot in his chest. He wanted to explain himself, to make Ed see that it wasn't because of anything he'd done that Roy was trying to put some distance between them, but he was powerless to do so.

Pain flickered across Ed's face, half-smothered by the familiar bluster of defensive anger, and Roy hated himself for being the cause even as he ached to wipe it away. In the end, all he could do was murmur, 'Good night, Ed.'

The younger alchemist hesitated at the living room door and looked back over his shoulder, his face softening a little as he replied. 'Sleep well, Mustang, and thanks,' He gestured with the bundle of paperwork, 'for helping me with this, I mean.'

Then he was gone, showing himself out and leaving Roy standing in the hollow carcass of his house – walls and furniture, fireplaces and a roof, but it was nothing like home without Ed at his side.

'Shit,' he hissed, dragging both hands through his hair before he slumped into the armchair, propping his elbows on his knees and rubbing at his eyes. It felt like all he had done for the past forty-eight hours was think in circles. Every plan to gain the upper hand over Cole fell to dust after no more than a moment's consideration, and Roy was left feeling helpless. Thinking his way around a battlefield and dealing with the ranks around him in the military was never a problem, but this – facing off against a powerful civilian family – was not something he had ever thought would be necessary.

Hughes was right: knowledge was power. None of them could do anything without a greater understanding of the Silverthornes and how they worked. All Roy had to go on was rumour, and most of what he had heard related to older crimes: gun smuggling and cartels during the Ishballan rebellion. During that time, it was the grandfather, Marcus, who had been in control.

He racked his brains, trying to think if he had heard of anything new, but nothing sprang to mind. Dominic was head of the family now, and either he had become better at keeping his dodgy dealings in the shadows, or he'd cleaned up the Silverthornes' act, if not their reputation.

Stiffly, Roy got to his feet and pulled down a book from its niche on the shelf. Unlike his alchemy texts, it was well-used. It paid to be in the know, and the peerage listed all the families of note in Amestris. Every scandal and every action of valour was documented in the pages. It had only failed him once before, when he had searched for the name “Elric” or “Hohenheim”. There was nothing on the former, and everything on the latter sounded more like fiction than fact.

Now he turned through to the relevant section and began to read. Everyone had a chink in their armour that made them fold like a pack of cards. Over the course of a lifetime it might change as priorities shifted, but it was still there, waiting to be exploited. Somewhere, there was a way to get one up on Cole. All Roy had to do was find it.

Time melted away as the clock's hands swept around its face. He kept the fire fed, letting its noise and light soothe his tired mind as he continued his search. Roy's eyes burned from intensive reading, and his neck was stiff from being hunched over in the armchair, but he didn't notice any discomfort until a knock at the front door interrupted his thoughts.

It was a staggered, nervous rhythm, and Roy frowned in confusion as he tried to work out who it could be. It was almost ten o'clock, bordering on too late for a social call. It could be Ed; maybe he'd left something behind, but it could also be Cole or some nameless Silverthorne henchman. 

Closing the book, he got to his feet before walking out into the hall. He picked up his gloves from where they lay by the phone, pulling one onto his hand and angling his fingers to snap if he saw an unfamiliar face.

Roy opened the door, pulling it wide as he saw Ed hovering on the threshold. A ribbon of relief ran down his spine, but it faded in an instant; he could tell from the pallor of Ed's face that something was wrong. Gold eyes looked at him like a deer caught in the hunter's sights. Ed's hands were shoved in his pockets, his shoulders were slumped, and every breath seemed a bit too fast, as if he were struggling to control anger, panic or possibly both.

'Ed, what's wrong?'

He opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. Eventually he shook his head and glanced away, shivering as he said, 'I – I – there's something I need to talk to you about.' 

Ed rarely sounded so faltering unless he was speechless with rage, and icy fear flared across Roy's skin. Ed faced up to every danger and threat without blinking, yet tonight something had smashed aside his unshakable strength, leaving him open and vulnerable.

Roy would bet anything that this had something to do with Cole, but what? Had Ed tried to break up with him? Had something happened? 

Before he could get a chance to ask, Ed shoved his hair out of his face with his left hand. The jacket sleeve shifted, and all of Roy's uncertainty was replaced with a vivid, hard rage.

Around Ed's wrist, five red stripes were rapidly forming dark bruises. Someone had grabbed him hard enough to leave a mark.

Swiftly, Roy reached out, gripping Ed's arm below the blackening stains and turning them towards the light. When he spoke, his voice was clipped, and it took all of his strength not to snarl as he demanded, 'Did Cole do this to you?' Roy was too full of fury to think of what he was saying. 'Did he hurt you?'

Ed's expression changed: wide, uncertain eyes took on a suspicious edge, and he angled his head up to meet Roy's gaze. His lips were parted and his brow lined with a frown as a low, dangerous question rumbled between them. 'How the fuck do you know about Cole, Mustang? I've not told you about him.'

Roy froze, licking his lips as he realised his mistake. Quick excuses fired through his mind, but he didn't utter any of them aloud. Whatever Hughes said, Ed deserved the truth. He needed to know all of it, no matter how much Roy cringed away at the thought of his judgement; he just hoped Ed would stick around to listen to everything he had to say.

'Come inside,' he suggested eventually, standing out of the way and gesturing into the hall. 'I think we need to talk.'

For a moment, Ed didn't move. He stood on the threshold, no longer trusting but wary and doubtful. He looked like the rug had been pulled from under his feet, and Roy's heart whimpered in his chest as he realised that nothing lit Ed's eyes but distrust. 

All they had achieved over the past few weeks and all the faith that had flourished between them lay dying. He'd spied on Ed for his own good; it was all in the name of keeping him safe, but Ed wouldn't hear that. The only thing he'd see was that Roy had crept around behind his back, had lied by omission and generally acted like a masterful manipulator – the same as always.

Finally, Ed stepped into the hallway, fists clenched and his voice coarse with anger.

'Start talking.'


	11. Unbearable

Roy felt sick with nerves, choked up and dying in his own anxiety as Ed waited for him to say something. He had moved into the living room, because this was not a conversation Roy wanted to have in his hallway, but he didn't dare sit down - not when Ed stood poised by the fire like a predator waiting to pounce and rip him to shreds.

Perhaps somewhere there were the right words to explain all this without it sounding so bad – something that would get Roy through the next hour without losing Ed's respect, friendship and trust, but he didn't know what they were. 

This wasn't normal. He _always_ knew what to say and how to say it, but his chest felt tight with rising panic as his mind remained blank and useless. All he had was a flat, terrible fear that Ed would never forgive him for this. Even if he explained it all, he would still come out of it looking interfering at best and manipulative at worst.

'I'm not going to wait forever, Mustang,' Ed muttered, his voice hard with defensive aggression. Anger was written on every surface of his body, from the straight line of his shoulders to his folded arms. His chin was tilted down so that he was looking up at Roy from under the thunderous scowl, like a bull ready to charge and gore and trample. Ed's violence wouldn't be so graceless, of course, but it would be just as brutal.

Except that it probably wouldn't be that easy: equivalent exchange for this wasn't going to be a punch in the face. Besides, he might have wanted to over the years, but Ed had never physically lashed out at Roy before. It was a line he had never crossed, and Roy doubted that Ed would change that tonight. He was more likely to turn his back and walk out than start a fight.

'I – it –' Roy sighed, pursing his lips and turning away as he tried to think of where to begin. He could tell Ed that Cole had confronted him, could claim that was the first time he'd set eyes on the boy and leave it at that. It was a reasonable answer, and one that could get him out of this mess relatively unscathed.

Yet even as the thought crossed Roy's mind, he knew that it wasn't something he could do, not if he wanted to hold onto any hope of having a significant relationship with Ed. The lie itself would be harmless but if, after all of this, Ed found out he'd been dishonest, anything that they had built together would fall to dust.

No, as much as it unsettled him, he had to tell Ed everything. Better to face it like a man than give foundation to Ed's doubts by lying again. If he wanted to rescue anything from the wreckage his revelations would leave in their wake, then he had to be completely honest. 

Roy swallowed at the thought, hating that it had come down to this. All his grace with words and subtle trickery were useless when it came to telling the truth, and he was left clumsy and helpless during one of the most important conversations he would ever have.

Cautiously, he lowered himself into the armchair, perching on the edge with his elbows on his knees. He didn't look up at Ed, couldn't bring himself to lift his head and face that golden gaze: the only fire he couldn't control. Instead he focused at an indistinct point on the carpet, staring at it as he began to explain.

'Back in the summer, before you went to Drachma, I saw the two of you together in an alleyway. I didn't know his name until I overheard a conversation between you and Al over a month later.' Roy tried to stick to the facts, to leave out the ebb and flow of his own emotions as he outlined the circumstances, but he couldn't hide the tremor in his voice.

'You were spying on me?' 

Incredulous doubt tinged the question, and Roy hunched his shoulders. If Ed thought seeing him and Cole together and a little eavesdropping counted as spying, then he was going to lose it when he heard about Hughes having him under sort-of-surveillance. 'Not intentionally. You weren't exactly in a private place on either occasion.' Roy lifted his head, but ducked it again almost instantly, cringing at the icy disbelief in Ed's expression. He wasn't buying Roy's excuses.

'What the fuck else did you hear?' Ed asked, calm in the same way the sky fell still before an earth-shattering storm. 'I'm guessing that wasn't all of it.'

'Just that Al thought there were better people out there for you.' Roy glanced up again, realising that Ed was glaring at the fire, not at him. His jaw was clenched painfully tight, but Roy did notice a faint grimace twitch his lips, as if he was belatedly acknowledging that Al might have been right about that.

Roy's heart thrashed in his chest, and his fingers curled into fists as he fought for the strength to carry on. He had to tell Ed all of it, or this whole thing would haunt him forever. It would always linger between them, unspoken and black, tainting everything.

'I wasn't the only one who heard what you were talking about. Hughes was there too.' He held out a hand as Ed shifted, head whipping around and teeth bared in a twitchy snarl. 'I know this isn't an excuse for what we did, but Al doesn't judge people quickly. If he had concerns about Cole then –'

'What. Did. You. Do?'

Roy's heart sank like a stone. This wasn't Ed's usual anger: He'd stood in the office ranting on about crazy alchemists and stupid officials enough times for Roy to know the difference. Normally he was more bark than bite, more vocal than violent, but this – this was something different. This was bordering on the same cold hate Roy had seen on Ed's face when dealing with someone who disgusted him, and it wasn't until that moment that he realised just how much he had made a mess of things.

'We ran some background checks on Cole, and some of Maes' men have been keeping an eye on you,' he said quietly, hurrying on as Ed bridled. 'We were thinking of your safety. We just wanted to make sure you were all right!'

'Bullshit, Mustang!' Ed shouted, his cheeks flushed and his eyes sparking with anger. 'If you were worried about me you would have talked to me!'

'You wouldn't have told us anything,' Roy replied desperately, getting to his feet to give more force to his words. 'You would have told us it was none of our business!'

'It wasn't! It had nothing to do with the military, nothing to do with any of that crap! It was my personal life, and you're such a fucking control freak that you can't even leave that alone! You have to be in charge of everything!' He stopped, and Roy watched the colour drain from his face as the scowl changed to something more uncertain. 'Is that what all this has been about?'

'All what?' Roy asked, not daring to leap to any conclusions.

'This!' Ed waved his hand around the room. 'Helping me out with the Emerald Alchemist's arrays, talking, flirting...' He trailed off, closing his eyes in disbelief as he turned his head away, speaking through clenched teeth. 'It was a fucking act, wasn't it? You didn't approve of Cole any more than Al did, couldn't stand having someone else having any influence over your clockwork soldier so you made me think... .' 

An unbearable chasm of despair yawned in Roy's guts, sucking all the heat out of him and leaving him stricken. 'No! Ed, please -' He reached out only to snatch his fingers away when Ed jerked backwards, looking at him as if he were out of his mind. 'Please, that wasn't what I was doing. I swear!' Roy had his palms raised in surrender as he searched frantically for something to say that might turn this around, but his mind came up blank.

It couldn't be happening like this, it just couldn't! He knew Ed would be angry, knew he would spit and snarl over the invasion to his privacy but Roy had never imagined Ed would look upon the past few weeks with a pained gaze, seeing nothing but manipulation when Roy had tried to be open and unmasked. There had to be some way to stop all of this unravelling in front of his eyes.

'So what were you doing, Mustang?' Ed snapped, flinging his arms wide in pleading fury, 'Give me one fucking reason to believe that you weren't being the same self-serving prick as always.' 

Fear choked Roy's throat, because what could he say? If he told Ed how he felt, then it would be thrown back in his face, but if he didn't then Ed would believe he was the same man he had spent his entire adolescence railing against in the office. 

In the end he shook his head, hardening himself against the heartache he knew was coming as he forced the words out. 'It wasn't an act. I was trying to show you that you had a choice between me and Cole, if you wanted to take it.' Roy lowered his hands to his sides, feeling wrecked. 'I wasn't trying to mislead you, or play with your feelings, or anything like that. I was trying to show you that I cared about you.'

He didn't want to watch the judgement in Ed's eyes. Roy didn't want to see him weigh up the facts and try to decide if his words were truthful, or just another trick, but he couldn't look away. Some small part of him thought that, if he could just get Ed to see it in his face, he'd be believed. 

Roy's knees felt weak, and he badly wanted to sit down, but he didn't dare move. His mind was racing, stampeding from one panicked idea to the next as he tried to think what he could do to make Ed see he was telling the truth, but he already knew the answer. He was powerless; this was Ed's choice now, simple and complex all at once. All he could do was wait.

Ed watched him, his expression twisted with doubt as he crossed his arm. When he spoke again, it was almost defeated, as if he'd just let go of the last of his hope. 'You showed you care by spying on the competition – on me?' He shook his head in disbelief, stumbling backwards as he tried to put some distance between them.

'Face it, Mustang, you didn't think I'd make the choice that was right for you, so you had to keep an eye on things. This wasn't ever about me or Cole, it was about you getting your way. I can't believe I thought I could trust you. You haven't changed at all. You are still the same arrogant shit you were when I was a kid.'

'Wait!' Roy grabbed Ed's arm as the younger man turned away, only to recoil when Ed span around, teeth bared and temper barely controlled. 'Ed, please listen to me! If you believe nothing else then you need to know what Cole is capable of!' He spoke quickly, letting the words pour out before Ed could interrupt or storm out of the door. 

'His last name is Silverthorne; they're a powerful non-military family, and they've covered for him in the past. The only lover he ever had who tried to leave him was blackmailed into staying. Then, when he tried to break it off anyway, he ended up dead at the bottom of some stairs.' He hesitated, wishing he could understand the emotions on Ed's face as he added, 'Cole was arrested for his murder, but his family bribed those involved.'

Roy licked his parched lips, watching Ed carefully. 'He showed up on my doorstep a couple of days ago, warning me to keep my hands off of you or he'd make sure that my career suffered. As childish as he sounds, he shouldn't be taken lightly.' Taking a deep breath, he inched closer, braced for Ed to dart away. 'I'm sorry that I wasn't more honest with you, but I promise that, whatever my motivations were to begin with, all I'm worried about now is keeping you safe.'

Ed glanced down at the floor, and when he looked up again the hot bite of anger had tempered itself into something stronger and more long-lasting. 'I can look after myself; I don't need you to protect me,' he replied flatly. 'You've spent years throwing me into the path of chimeras and psychopaths and homunculi, and now you think I need taking care of?' He turned again, his voice no more than an angry whisper as he walked away. 'Fuck you, Mustang.'

The front door slammed behind him, and Roy was left standing alone in the middle of his living room. It was painfully easy to see all of this through Ed's eyes, to take in with one glance the betrayal of trust and those old, shifting manipulations. Roy had always been good at getting others to believe him, but now, when he really needed Ed to understand, his abilities had failed him.

Rubbing his hands across his face, he collapsed back into the armchair, trying to ignore the droning ache that thudded through him with every beat of his heart. Had he really been that bad when Ed was younger? Of course, Roy was his commanding officer, that gave him some level of control, but had he honestly manipulated Ed so much that now it was the first thing he suspected in any interaction?

Roy sighed miserably, ignoring the fact that his hands were shaking. He couldn't have made more of a mess of this if he had tried. He didn't even know if Ed believed him about Cole; he hadn't reacted at all to Roy's words, had barely even blinked, so did that mean that Ed thought he was lying, or had he already known?

Straightening up, Roy looked towards the door as he remembered that Ed had wanted to tell him something. For god's sake, he'd arrived the doorstep bruised and shaken and needing help and instead had marched away without saying a word about his reasons. All Ed had cared about was getting away, and that hurt Roy far more than he would have thought possible.

Abruptly, he got to his feet, snuffing out the fire with a quick snap as he strode out to the hall, grabbing his coat and keys. Ed might want to get away from him, but he couldn't flee the facts. Whatever he thought of Roy and whether he realised it or not, he was stuck in a situation with Cole that he couldn't fight his way out of. He needed to face up to that sooner, rather than later.

No matter how much his heart bruised and bled at the thought, Roy had to forget about anything they could have had together: that was a lost chance – a faded hope. Ed might never look at him with warm, wanting eyes again, but that didn't mean he should be left to struggle through Cole's machinations alone. 

Opening the door, he stepped out into the chilly night, trotting down the steps and striding along the pavement into the waiting city. From the very beginning, Roy had been screwing things up between them, making the wrong choices and trying to justify them when he should have found a better way forward. 

Maybe it was too late to repair the damage he'd done, but that didn't mean he shouldn't try. If, after all of this was over, Ed still hated him, then he would live with those consequences, but he wasn't about to stand by and do nothing. 

Ed was going to have his help, whether he wanted it or not.


	12. Undeniable

Roy stopped at the end of his street, ignoring the cloud of every breath in front of his face as he tried to work out which way Ed had gone. The city sprawled beneath the night sky, drowsy but far from sleep. Street lamps glimmered in the chilly air and cars purred past, their headlights painting white paths through the darkness, but there was no sign of Edward anywhere.

The spheres of their lives had overlapped for years, now, and yet it was times like these that Roy realised he hardly knew Ed at all. Friendship wasn't about the big things. It wasn't about knowing all the secrets of a person's life, although that was part of it. It was the minutiae – the little details of a person's day-to-day existence – that provided a firm foundation to the larger issues of trust and loyalty. 

While Roy knew some of Ed's habits, it wasn't nearly enough to work out where he would go from here. Gritting his teeth, he sighed in frustration. Every moment he dithered, Ed was getting further away, and he bent his mind to the task of making an educated guess. Instinct and logic were powerful tools, and Roy had to put them to good use.

It was unlikely Ed would have gone back to Cole. Roy had no doubt that it was that bastard who had left the bruises on Ed's arm. Whatever had happened between the two of them, it was unlikely to be a simple lover's tiff. The balance of their relationship had shifted, and Cole didn't fit the role of confidante any more, although somehow Roy doubted that they had ever reached that level of companionship. 

Could Ed have gone there, not for comfort, but for a confrontation? God, he hoped not. Ed's temper was as much a weakness as it was a strength. It blinded him to the consequences of his actions, and Roy could only pray that he had chosen a different path tonight. 

One simple fact encouraged him: when Ed had left his house, it had not been in a vivid tower of rage. His mood had been darker than that, defeated and cold. Anger might form part of his emotion, but Roy suspected it was only one facet of a much bigger whole. Whatever he thought of Roy, Ed wouldn't have ignored his warnings, would he? 

Perhaps he had returned to the apartment he shared with Al. After all, Roy hadn't explicitly said that his younger brother was involved in the surveillance plot, and if Ed ever turned to anyone, it would be Alphonse. Yet even as he thought it, he knew he was wrong. As much as Ed loved Al and cared for his opinion, the urge to protect him from the darker side of the world still burned strong. He would rather square off against trouble alone and shield Al from its touch than share his burden.

No, Roy would bet anything that Ed was avoiding company right now, rather than seeking it. He wouldn't want to take all that anger home, and hopefully he had the common sense not to go looking for an outlet. He would hide himself away somewhere and soak himself in his mood until he either came up with a plan, or lost his equilibrium and took action based on the dominant emotion of the moment.

Narrowing his eyes, Roy looked around. Houses picked out the skyline of suburbia, and he nudged logic aside as he let his instincts take control. He and Ed weren't so different, but where Roy would find a bar and lose himself in the bottom of a glass, Ed preferred solitude. He would be defensive, and would subconsciously choose higher ground so he could see any threats before they got to him.

His eyes settled on the floodlit tower of Central Command, and his hesitancy fled. He knew exactly where Ed was. Headquarters was never closed to someone with a pocket watch and, as much as he hated the military at times, Ed probably thought he would be safe from attention there. Perhaps he didn't think Roy would care enough to follow him.

It was time to prove him wrong.

Glancing both ways, he hurried across the street, walking with calm confidence as his insides thrashed with panic. It would be safer for him to wait until Ed had calmed down before confronting him again, at least until he'd had time to think. Unfortunately, that would be the wrong thing to do. 

Roy knew that sometimes the only way to show someone that you cared was to walk into the midst of their rage, afraid but prepared for the consequences. Ed could push him away all he wanted, but Roy wasn't going to go anywhere. Ed needed him, whether he admitted it or not, and Roy wasn't about to let him down again.

Within ten minutes, he had crossed the perimeter and walked across the parade ground. The only way to get to the roof was by going through the building itself, and his footsteps clattered around him, bouncing back and forth around the stairwell as he hurried up the steps. Finally, he pushed the door open, letting the cold rob him of his uneven breath as his gaze swept the rooftop.

There was no sign of Ed, and his shoulders slumped in disappointment. Running his hands through his hair, he spat a quiet curse. He'd been so sure, so hopeful, that he knew where Ed was, but now all that welcomed him was the glow of the city's lights, sprinkled at his feet like so many dropped jewels. 

'Fuck _off_ , Mustang.'

Roy spun around, his heart in his throat and his fingers tense before he realised what he was seeing. Ed leaned against the wall near the door, his black clothes blending him into the shadows almost perfectly. His arms were crossed and his shoulders hunched, but his eyes were hot with anger and his lips were pulled back in a silent snarl.

'I'm not leaving,' He reached out, pushing the door shut so that Ed couldn't stalk off down the steps and leave him alone on the rooftop, 'and neither are you. Not until you tell me why you came to me earlier.'

'You arrogant git,' Ed snapped, pushing himself away from the wall and closing the distance between them in quick, furious strides. 'You honestly think I'm going to tell you what happened? I'm surprised you don't know it all already, or haven't you got a report from Hughes yet?'

Roy closed his eyes, forcing himself to summon up his patience. Ed was off-balance and upset, and he always pushed anything he thought of as a vulnerability into the flash-fire of his temper. He couldn't snarl back and give Ed anything else to fight over. He had to make him see that Cole was the real enemy – the one who could hurt them both if he thought it served his purpose.

'Maes is concentrating all of his efforts on finding out more about Cole,' he explained. 'You weren't being watched because you weren't trusted, I swear. It was only to protect you in case you came up against something you couldn't handle.' Roy blew out a steadying breath, taking Ed's lack of a retort as a promising sign. 'You're the only one who knows exactly what's happening with Cole, and if you were in a mess you could get out of easily, you'd already be dealing with it.' 

Ed's openness had always been a blessing. When he was a child, he hadn't had the strength of will to hide his hope, fear and anger from Roy. As he had aged, that naivety had faded, pared away by the realities of the world, and yet Ed still didn't conceal how he felt – at least, not from him. 

He was perfectly capable of it: Roy had seen the cool, distant mask of indifference that Ed employed around strangers. He almost expected to see it on Ed's face now, and Roy's body clenched with nervous fear. He would accept any emotion, even hatred, and be grateful for it, as long as he didn't have to watch Ed take the last step towards shutting him out. 

Examining Ed's expression, Roy took in every flare and flash of emotion. Anger was paramount, and it would probably stay that way, but beneath that, in the bedrock of his mind, Roy could see the creeping spread of logic. 

Ed knew he couldn't deal with this alone. Whatever problem Cole had put on his plate, it was bigger than he knew how to control. Normally, Ed's pride would have got in the way. More than once in the past he had declined Roy's assistance simply because it was Roy who offered it. The fact that he wasn't turning away and denying him off-hand spoke volumes for the seriousness of the situation. 

Roy put his hands in his pockets, breathless with tension as he prompted, 'Why did you come to me tonight, Ed?'

He didn't want to tell him, that much was obvious, and Roy's heart sank as he realised how much had changed between them. A handful of hours ago Ed had been so beautifully trusting. Now, that was all gone, and Roy didn't know if it could ever be reclaimed.

Roy gritted his teeth as he pushed that thought aside. His personal concerns didn't matter right now. For once, he had to forget about himself and focus all of his attention on Ed. He gave so much away in the stance of his body and the clench of his jaw, and Roy knew he had to read every tiny detail if he was going to get all of the information he needed. He could forfeit his happiness in the name of keeping Ed out of harm's way.

Finally, Ed shifted, leaning his weight onto his back foot as he scowled miserably out across the city. 'How long have you known what Cole was capable of?' he asked. 'Have you been hiding it from me since the beginning?'

Roy hid a wince as Ed's glare pinned him in place, but he didn't look away. This felt almost like some kind of test, as if Ed was gleaning every little fact and weighing Roy's answers in judgement. 'No. If I had, I would have stepped in long before this. We only found out the truth about him a couple of days ago, and it took some serious digging on Hughes' part. I would have told you as soon as we knew, except I was worried about how you might react.'

Ed was biting his lip so hard that it had to be painful, and Roy knew that he was struggling to keep himself in check. Every line of his body screamed that he wanted to lash out at something, to find justice in a quick, hard punch, but there was no-one here to hit except Roy, and he wasn't giving into that temptation. At least, not yet.

Slowly, Roy continued, choosing his words with care. 'I know how strong you are, Ed. You can look after yourself in an honest fight, but if you tried to break it off with Cole before we had some kind of plan to neutralise his threats, it wouldn't come down to that. He'd manipulate you and make you feel like you had no choice but to stay with him. If you still tried to leave, he'd wait until you were off your guard before he acted. It could be a physical or emotional attack but, either way, I don't know if you'd be able to defend yourself against that.'

Ed didn't answer, and Roy knew that his silence was as much of an acknowledgement as he was ever going to get. Ed might not be talking, but he was listening, and that was better than nothing. 'I didn't want to encourage you to leave Cole once I realised it could put you in danger – that's why I drew away earlier this evening. I didn't want to make a bad situation worse.'

The calm stretched between them, and when Ed spoke his words were edged with ice. 'Not everything is about you, Mustang. Didn't you think I might leave Cole for my own reasons, ones that had nothing to do with you?'

He hadn't, not really, but he wasn't going to admit that in so many words. With every passing minute Roy was feeling more wretched for his self-centred approach over the past few weeks, and he felt too vulnerable to give Ed any more ammunition to use in his fury. 

'I got the impression that you were happy with him,' he said quietly. 'It certainly seemed that way.' He felt hollow with doubt as a dozen scenarios raced through his head. 'Did something change?'

Ed tipped his head to the side, eyes narrowed with distrust. He didn't want to open up to Roy, that much was clear. Perhaps he didn't want to admit he'd made a mistake or acknowledge any form of weakness, but surely he knew he didn't have many options left to him? There was no one else he could confide in, with the exception of his brother, and Roy doubted Al could do anything to help.

The decision was made. Roy saw it in Ed's body language: the tension ebbed from his shoulders, leaving them slumped, and angry eyes became downcast, no longer meeting Roy's gaze but looking out across the city instead. It wasn't acceptance or gratitude. It was defeat. Roy had won a battle he hadn't even wanted to fight, but this victory was nothing like sweet.

'Al's been talking to you and Hughes, hasn't he?' Ed asked, not bothering to wait for a reply as he sighed. 'He's always been a crap liar, but he's good at making people think about stuff – making me think about stuff. A couple of nights ago he started asking questions about Cole, just the basics, like he wanted to know more about him ,and it made me realise I didn't know the answers. I'd asked, but Cole never gave me a straight reply. I didn't think anything of it because – because it didn't really matter. I didn't think it was important.' 

He made a tight, humiliated noise and shook his head in anger. It was no longer directed at Roy, but firmly back at himself. 'I can't believe I was so fucking blind. It was right there for me to see, and I just didn't pay attention to it. I didn't even look!'

Roy's arms ached with the need to reach out and wrap Ed in his embrace, to comfort him and tell him it wasn't his fault, but that was a level of closeness he was no longer allowed. Just because Ed was telling him this it didn't mean he wasn't still angry and hurt by Roy's deception, and he wasn't about to risk pushing Ed back into silence by making the wrong move.

'Cole's past was well-hidden, Ed, you can't blame yourself for not seeing what he wanted to conceal.'

'Al saw it,' he replied quietly. 'I didn't even listen to that, either, and I should've done. Al's good at knowing which people to trust and I just... .' He trailed off with a shrug, rubbing at his brow as he let out a shaky breath. 

'I saw Cole earlier tonight, demanded to know what he did for a living, where he grew up – you know, the little things. Maybe it was just what Al had said, or maybe I'd been noticing something was wrong all along, but when he kept side-stepping the questions, I told him if he couldn't tell me the truth then it was over between us.' Ed gave a small, mirthless laugh, rubbing at his bruised forearm with metal fingertips. 'He didn't like that.'

Roy's hands clenched into fists, his eyes falling to the sleeve that hid the Ed's bruises from view. 'He hurt you,' he said flatly, trying to keep the rumble of fury out of his voice, 'grabbed you so hard that he left marks.' A chilling thought ghosted across his mind and he moved closer, standing almost toe-to-toe with Ed as he looked down into his face, looking for any signs of a lie. 'Are there any more injuries I can't see? Did he touch you anywhere else?'

Ed met his gaze, no doubt reading the undercurrent of protective anger that formed the molten core of Roy's words. It looked as if he was puzzled by it, like he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that Roy's concern was genuine, but couldn't stifle the faint flutter of hope, either. Eventually, he shook his head. 'I turned to walk out the door and he grabbed my wrist to stop me, told me no one ever left him.'

Those gold eyes closed in disbelief as anger was undermined by the first threads of fear. When he spoke again it wasn't much more than a whisper. 'I yelled at him, couldn't even believe that he was being such a prick, told him it was my choice who I slept with, not his and I'd go if I wanted to. Then he just started talking, like he was discussing the fucking weather or something.'

'What did he say?'

Ed moved, pacing like a caged animal across the rooftop. 'That he knew what me and Al had done when we were kids. He said he'd tell the military police that we'd attempted human transmutation, both of us, and that you'd helped cover it up.' He looked at Roy then, ghost pale. 'It was like it didn't even matter to him if we were all shoved against a wall and shot for it, because he'd have won. If it was just me....' 

He trailed off, but Roy could finish the sentence as easily as if he'd read it from a script. If it had just been Ed under threat, then he would have torn Cole apart, would have shown him that the Fullmetal Alchemist was not someone who could be intimidated into obedience, but there was more at stake here. Ed might not care what happened to Roy, at least not after tonight, but Al's well-being was everything to him. Cole had risked Ed's rage by threatening the younger Elric, but he had also ensured his cooperation.

His body felt icy, numbed through to the core with shock at Cole's threat; his heart tripped into a faster beat as fear clutched at him, spawned by the vast spread of possible consequences that races through his mind.

Roy had always been very careful to hide whatever he could about Ed's past from the military, but there were some things he couldn't cover up. How had the brat got the information? Was it a clever threat crafted on a base of rumour, or did he have proof?

'Did you do anything to confirm how meaningful his threat was, anything that might have told him how much power he had over you? I need to know what you said, word-for-word.'

Ed's glare had lost some of its intensity, but his lips were pulled in a doubtful grimace as he said, 'I didn't say anything. I couldn't even believe what was happening. He didn't care about how I replied, just said I had one day to make up my mind, or he'd make sure the evidence ended up on the Fuhrer's desk.'

The hush of disbelief was leaving Ed's voice, pushed under and drowned out by a renewed tide of ferocity. 'How did he even get any proof, Mustang? You said you'd keep it quiet – keep it hidden. How the hell did Cole get his hands on something like that? I knew I should never have trusted you to watch my back!'

Roy tried not to show how much that remark stung. Ed was furious and frightened; he probably felt as if Cole wasn't the only one who had betrayed him tonight, and now he was striking out at the nearest target. 

'I did everything in my power to hide all trace of your past, Ed. Only those in my command and a select few others, like Hughes and Armstrong, had any clue about what happened.' Roy shifted his weight, rounding his shoulders against the biting wind that blustered over the city. 'I kept paperwork to a minimum, and they were never seen by anyone except me and Hawkeye.' 

It was difficult not to let uncertainty into his voice, not to hesitate or falter as the full impact of Cole's threat doused his mind. If this came to light, Roy stood to lose far more than his career; he could end up standing in front of a firing squad at Ed's side for his undeniable role in their deception. 

'Any signatures required from higher officers were forged by me,' he confessed, 'and the only file in existence is locked away in maximum security storage. There are hundreds of thousands of documents down there. That is the only physical proof of what you and Al attempted when you were children. You made sure of that when you burned your house,' he added in a murmur. 'Whatever Cole has, I don't know how he got hold of it. Bribery, perhaps, or it could be that he falsified his own evidence. Either way, it's a threat you can't ignore.'

Ed groaned, tunnelling his fingers into his hair. 'So what can I do? I can't kill him because of his stupid family, can't even beat him up because they'll come after me. I can't leave him, because there's no fucking way I'm letting you or Al suffer for all this, so what's left? Spread my legs and keep my mouth shut?'

Roy clenched his jaw, swallowing back bile at the idea of Ed trapped in that situation, robbed of the capacity to say no to Cole's advances. 'This involves all of us, Ed,' he said roughly. 'You, me and Al; we'll work together to find a way around it. First thing tomorrow I'll go down into the vault and look for the file myself. If we can find out exactly what Cole knows, then maybe we can find a way out of this mess.'

Ed blinked, swallowing tightly as he tried to read the expression on Roy's face. Finally, he asked, 'You're doing this for yourself, aren't you? Your arse is on the line as much as mine and Al's. If you weren't in any danger – '

'Then I'd still help you,' Roy replied, his words quiet but far from weak. They were iron-clad with determination, and he could see Ed battling with confusion and distrust. 

'Why? Is this some kind of screwed up apology?'

Roy turned towards the door back into the building, holding it open and waiting as Ed watched him warily. 'Whatever you think of me, Ed, I can't say I'm sorry for finding out the truth about Cole. I could have done it differently – could've asked you rather than going behind your back, and I apologise for that, but that's not why I'm trying to get you out of this.' He watched Ed across the rooftop, feeling the distance stretching between them like a hole in the heart.

'Whether you believe me or not, it doesn't change the fact that I care about you.' Roy sighed, knowing he wouldn't see any of his own feelings mirrored in Ed's face. Not anymore. He looked away, staring down into the brightly lit stairwell before turning back. It didn't matter if Ed didn't feel the same way; in the end, it didn't change Roy's fundamental need to keep him safe. 

'You wanted my help earlier tonight, trusted me enough to ask for it,' he murmured, unable to keep the pleading edge from his voice. 'Has that really changed?'

Slowly, Ed walked closer, his hands in his pockets and his head bent. He looked tired and harassed, a far cry from the bright young man who had stood in Roy's living room a few days ago, vivid and alive. When he was close enough to reach out and touch, he stopped, looking up at Roy through the gold fall of his hair.

'Yeah, Mustang, it's changed. I'll take your help, but it's not because I trust you; I've got no fucking choice.'


	13. Unforgivable

'Maes, just forget about it,' Roy said softly, trying not to sneeze as dust tickled his nose. 'There's no chance of anything between me and Ed now.'

'You don't know that,' Hughes replied, frowning around in confusion at row upon row of filing cabinets. 'Of course Ed's going to be angry. He found out his “just for fun” lover is a possessive, controlling son of a bitch and then, barely an hour later, you made your poorly-planned confession.' Green eyes glanced Roy's way, softening with pity. 'For someone who's meant to know exactly what to say, you have a very poor track record when it comes to talking to people you love.'

'Stop it,' Roy said wearily, turning left between towering shelves of files, decades old and forgotten. 'If I had done the right thing and kept my nose out of Ed's business in the first place, then we wouldn't be in this situation. I should have just... .' He trailed off, rubbing a gloved hand over his forehead in misery. He was too tired for this. The night had passed in racing thoughts and worried half-dreams, haunted always by memories of Ed's anger.

'Just what, Roy?' Maes asked. 'Whether you spied on Ed and Cole or not, Silverthorne would have still have made his threats eventually. In the end, Ed would have tried to leave of his own accord. He never intended that relationship to be anything permanent, remember? Cole doesn't care why Ed might go, all he cares about is keeping him.'

Their footfalls echoed through the vault, leaving silhouettes in the dust as they went. People rarely came this far back into the stacks, and Roy absently looked for signs of others walking this path as he said, 'There's always another choice, Maes. Ed would have told me what was going on himself. He would have done it yesterday evening if I hadn't put my foot in my mouth.' He sighed, shaking his head and shrugging before looking over his shoulder at his friend. 'There was no need to spy on him, but I did it anyway. Maybe Ed's right; maybe I can't help but try and control other people's lives.'

A few seconds of silence followed that statement before Hughes conceded, 'I'll admit you can be manipulative, that's the way you have to be if you have ambitions in the military, but that doesn't mean you were using your old tricks on Ed. However much he hates the means, Roy, he's got to understand your motives. Did you even tell him why we started checking out Cole's background in the first place?'

'Of course I did. I explained all of it: how we thought Al's worries were cause for concern, that it was for his safety – ' Roy swallowed, remembering to keep his voice low. '– that I cared about him. It didn't make any difference. I'm not even sure he believed it.'

His friend's sigh whispered through the air, stirring the calm. 'Give him time.' Hughes patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. 'You've known Ed for years, and you've had first-hand experience of what he's like when he's angry. He does himself as much harm as he does to those around him.' There was silence for a moment, disturbed only by the rhythm of their stride before Maes added, 'Actions speak louder than words, Roy. Don't give up. Show Ed that you care for him, and that you're not going to stop just because he's put all his walls back up.'

Roy couldn't find the words to reply. They caught in his throat and tangled his tongue, leaving him mute as he wished he had his friend's confidence. Yet Hughes hadn't been there; he hadn't seen the coldness in Ed's eyes or heard the ice cracking in his words. He thought there was something left to work with, and all Roy could see was a thousand broken pieces that nothing could fix.

'I'll try,' he said eventually, taking another turn and stopping in a cul-de-sac of filing cabinets, 'but for now I have to concentrate on getting him out of this mess.'

He frowned in concentration as he tried to remember where he should look. For all its neglect, the indexing of this store was very precise. He had dithered, all those years ago, about whether to hide the few documents on Ed's past in the depths of the stacks but, in the end, he'd realise that a document out of place would attract more attention once it was found. So he'd put it away in the right slot and prayed that no one ever had a reason to look for it. 

'Someone's been here, but not for a while.' Hughes pointed to a trail of disturbed dust. 'Looks like they took a more direct route from the entrance. Whoever it was knew their way around this place.'

Very few people had access to this area; he was only allowed down here because he had a false request for a dossier from one of his superiors. It was probably one of the archivists, Roy realised. Whether they were bribed or blackmailed it made no difference. They'd be able to ferret out anything about Ed amidst this mass of mouldering paper. With a sinking heart, he opened the relevant drawer and flicked through the folders. He checked and double-checked, but there was no doubt about it: Ed's file was gone. Cole had his proof all right, and he'd snatched it right out of military headquarters.

'Shit.'

Maes gave a soft sound of worry from his side, gazing down into the drawer before looking over at him. 'So, we know exactly what proof Cole has against Ed.' As silver linings went, it was pathetic, and Hughes rubbed his hand over his eyes. 'Can you remember what was in there? How damning was it? Is it really enough to bring you, Ed and Al into question?'

Roy shut the drawer, turning around to lean against the cabinet as his memory skipped back. He remembered it well, mostly because it had been one of the most sculpted reports he'd ever written. 'It was heavy on conjecture and light on detail. There were no sketches or diagrams of the array; Ed made sure of that when he destroyed the house. There were no personal statements. I did everything I could to mention as little as possible, but –'

'But you had to put something together,' Hughes finished for him. 'No information at all is too conspicuous. Someone would have noticed its absence, and a full-scale enquiry would have been launched. The brass would have been all over it like a terrier on a rat.' He nodded, keeping his quiet words strong with reassurance. 'They would've dug out every last grain of truth, and Ed and Alphonse would have suffered as a result. You were protecting them, Roy, and putting your career on the line in the process. You know it was the right thing to do.'

'So why do I feel like it was me who betrayed them?' Angry nausea rolled in Roy's stomach at the thought that something written in his own hand was being used against Ed like this. He should have known better – should have thought of some alternative. Ed's life was on the line, and Roy hadn't done enough to protect him.

He closed his eyes, silently asking himself what else he could have done. Maes had a point: not putting away any paperwork on the Elric's history would have raised a red flag among the higher-ups, and any lie would have caught them out eventually. Instead, he had made sure that every word in that report was artfully chosen to befuddle and bore. 

Roy tipped his head back, looking up at the distant pendulums of the lights. He'd used so much technical and archaic jargon in that report that any non-alchemist's eyes would have glazed over in seconds. Only someone with an intimate knowledge of transmutations would have been able to glean the darker truth in the document's core, and Cole definitely didn't fit that description.

'He's shown the file to at least one other person,' he said quietly, looking back at Hughes as the man twitched in surprise. 'Cole wouldn't know what that report was about, but his threat to Ed was very specific. He had help in working out what it meant.'

'So someone else knows about this: that makes our job a lot harder.' Maes grimaced. 'The longer this information about Ed is in the public domain, the more chance there is of someone important finding out about it.' He turned away, his face set in tense lines. 'Come on, we need to talk to Ed.'

Roy's gaze fell back to the cleaner patch of floor, and he hunkered down next to it as his worry-thick mind raced with suspicion. 'Hughes, wait.' Idly, he traced his finger over it, examining the pristine stripe his glove left in its wake. ‘Whoever came to retrieve the file before us was here a while ago. There’s plenty of dust that’s settled back over it. I think whoever took the file grabbed it before Ed got back from Drachma.'

‘So, this isn’t a recent thing?’

'Cole didn't wait until he felt threatened to look for something to use against Ed,' Roy said softly, shaking his head to himself as it became clear. 'Whatever Ed thought, Cole knew from the beginning that he wanted his relationship with Ed to be more than a quick tumble. He began looking for leverage against him right at the start.'

It was a minor revelation, but Roy felt the guilt that slicked his core lessen. He had spent hours wondering if this was his fault – if something he could have said or done could have made things turn out a different way, but Cole's actions spoke for themselves. Ed's fate was sealed as soon as they'd shared kisses against that alley wall. Silverthorne intended to hang onto Ed at any cost, and he didn't care who got hurt in the process.

Roy took a deep breath, strengthening his resolve as he straightened up. He met Hughes' gaze squarely, clenching his jaw as fear and worry began to morph into a simmering, steady anger. Good, at least that was something he could use. 'Cole's spent most of his life exploiting the weaknesses of others,' he said quietly. 'Somewhere, there must be something we can use against him. Maybe a taste of his own medicine will make him think twice about what he's willing to risk to keep Ed at his side.'

'That's what I've been looking for,' Maes said as Roy brushed past and marched on through the archives. 'I've been squeezing every source I've got, but no-one's talking. We could start looking through reports and newspapers for anything useful, but that could take months.'

'We don't have that kind of time. I could get some of my men to help. They can all be trusted.'

'To a point.' Hughes waved his hand as Roy bristled. 'I'm not questioning their integrity, Roy, but the more people who know about this the more potential weak points there are in the chain. Your men are loyal, but they all have their secrets. If Cole put his mind to it, he could probably crack most of the military open. It's best to keep this operation to as few people as possible.'

Roy clenched his jaw as he trotted up the steps and into the main command complex. 'If I thought Cole was bluffing, I'd call him out on it, but he's serious. He'd rather see Ed dead than let him go.' 

He glanced at the clock mounted on the wall of the corridor, picking up his pace as much as he dared. He had an hour before Hawkeye would start hunting him down, and he'd told Ed to find him and Hughes in one of the military library reading rooms. Meeting at Roy's house would only raise Cole's suspicions further, and he didn't trust the office not to be bugged.

'What other choices do we have?' Hughes asked as he caught up to Roy, matching his pace as they hurried onwards. 'Cole's not going to let this go easily. We need something good to use against him. His family know about his arrest, and we'll never be able to show it was a cover-up. Unless we can find some useful information, we really are powerless against him.'

Roy flashed his pocket-watch to the soldiers at the steps, nodding his thanks as he was waved through. 'We need to go over this with Ed. Whatever we decide to do, he's the one who has to actually stay with Cole while we put any plans into action.' He turned towards the reading rooms, trying to ignore the thrash of butterflies in his stomach.

Last night, he and Ed had parted ways with nothing but tense silences and curt words. Would he have had a chance to calm down, or would he still look at Roy and see nothing but an enemy? He wanted to believe that the haze of hurt and anger would have cleared from Ed's vision, but Roy wasn't going to hold his breath for a reprieve. He could only hope that, one day, Ed wouldn't see his actions as something unforgivable.

Ed and Al were already waiting for them. Medical textbooks were open on the table, but Alphonse wasn't even glancing at their pages. He was watching his brother from exhaustion smudged eyes, his jaw tight with worry and his palms braced on the table. Whatever he had been saying died on his lips, and he gave Roy a tight, nervous smile.

There was no such nicety from Ed, who glared at them both before turning to scowl out of the window. He was leaning back against the bookshelves with his arms crossed. To the casual observer he seemed completely at ease, but Roy could see the tense lines of his muscles under his vest and the white-knuckled curl of his fist. 

Neither of the boys looked like they had slept, and Roy wished he had something to say that could reassure them. Instead all he had to offer was bad news. He took a deep breath, closing the door as Maes pulled out a chair and slumped down onto it. 

'Your file's missing from the vault,' Hughes said bluntly, meeting Ed's eyes without so much as a flinch. 'That's Cole's proof, and it's the only solid evidence remaining about your past.' He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table as he looked from one brother to the other. 'Unless there's something the two of you know about?'

They both shook their heads, and Ed spoke in a flat, grating voice. 'We destroyed everything we could, which is more than can be said for the military.' He shot a hard look at Roy, but it only lasted a second or so before he turned away again, as if he couldn't bear the sight of him.

'I had no choice, Ed. If I'd not filled in a report the military would have been suspicious; they would have asked questions we couldn't answer.'

'So why didn't you lie?' Ed snapped. 'You either protect us or you protect yourself, Mustang. It's pretty obvious which one you chose.'

'Stop.' Maes' order was like a whip, quiet but stinging, and his eyes were hard behind his glasses. 'I know you're upset with the way we behaved, Ed; you have that right, but don't pass judgement when you don't know what you're talking about.' His words softened as he explained, 'A lie is harder to maintain than a well-concealed truth. It would be too easy to get caught out in a fiction. Verbally we could say what we wanted, because even if people suspected us they wouldn't have had any hard evidence of what we had said. A report's a completely different matter.'

'Every decision I made about that file was carefully thought through,' Roy added quietly, 'but I was thinking of hiding it from distracted generals and the Fuhrer, not a civilian. Silverthorne got to someone on the archive team; they helped him get what he was looking for, and someone else told him what it meant.'

Al made a tight sound, running a hand through his hair. 'So we don't just need to worry about Cole. Somewhere, some alchemist knows what me and brother did.'

'No.' Ed shifted his weight as they all turned to look at him. 'Cole wouldn't risk someone else beating him to the blackmail opportunity. Either he didn't tell them who the report was about, or he made sure they couldn't tell anyone else about it. He wouldn't want someone stealing his thunder or, worse, warning me.'

His shoulders slumped, and Roy's heart ached for him. No one liked to be deceived, least of all by a lover. Ed was blaming himself; it was written all over his face. He was second-guessing every one of his actions and questioning why he hadn't seen what Cole was before now. He had taken a leap of faith, and now he was suffering the consequences. 

'So we just have to worry about Cole,' Roy said firmly, meeting Ed's gaze. It was easy to fall back on the old routines and inject confidence into his expression. What Ed needed right now was someone who was certain they could make this work, not a man riddled with doubt, confusion and pain. It was a mask that fit comfortably on Roy's face, but he couldn't completely wipe the edge of tender concern from his voice.

'There are several things we can do, but they all take time, and any choice we make means you're going to have to stay with Cole for a while, Ed.'

He expected an argument, but none came. Ed looked far from happy with the idea. His lips were curled with disgust, but his eyes were flat with defeated resignation. He knew as well as the rest of them that he was running out of options. It was obvious that, if they were going to fight their way through this and emerge with their lives and reputations intact, then they had to plot each and every move.

Roy could see the flicker of Ed's hesitance but, gradually, it faded away. Whatever Ed thought of Roy personally, he knew there was no one more adept at laying out a strategy. There might not have been any warmth in his expression, but there was a tiny, glowing ember of something that Roy had feared he would never see again.

Trust.

'So what's the plan?' he asked gruffly.

Relief swamped through Roy like a hot tide, easing the dead-weight in his chest and igniting a faint spark of hope. He licked his lips, beckoning them all closer as he began to explain. 'Cole's used to getting his way. If we act like we're cooperating, the chances are he'll relax – think he's won. That's what we want. If he's off his guard, it'll make our job easier.' 

Roy looked across at Maes. 'You were right; we're going to have to look through every available source for something to use against Cole. He's good at manipulating people, but so am I. If I have the right ammunition, I can put it to good use. He might decide that Ed's not worth the risk.'

'What if we can't find anything?' Al asked. 'It took Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes days to even find his real name, never mind anything else.'

'That's where you come in,' Roy said, turning to Ed. 'I know it's going to be difficult, but you need to focus on Cole. It's possible you might be able to find and destroy the file, or you can try to convince him that you're more trouble than you're worth. I'm sorry, Ed, but you're the best placed of all of us to neutralise Cole's threat before he puts it to use.'

'How am I meant to do that?' Ed demanded. 'He's not stupid; he won't leave that file lying around somewhere I can get my hands on it, and if I start behaving strangely then he's going to know something's going on.' Ed shut his eyes for a minute, his teeth gritted as he added, 'As soon as I step even a bit out of line, he's going to make fucking sure I pay for it.'

Roy shook his head, feeling the twist and bite of anger at the thought of Ed's emotional captivity. 'Cole's made it clear that you're worth going to extraordinary lengths to keep at his side. You might find you've got more power than you'd think. If he's as good at blackmailing people as I suspect he is, he'll know when to use threats and when to let things slide. Try it out; carefully push his limits. Maybe we can find a weakness that way. It's –'

The door opened, cutting Roy off mid-sentence as he turned to look guiltily towards the threshold. Hawkeye looked at the four of them, her dark eyes taking in everything. There was no mistaking her suspicion; a lesser woman would have asked what they were up to, but Riza simply curved an eyebrow as she glanced at the clock. 'You have a meeting with the Fuhrer in half an hour, sir. He wants to know more about the situation in the South.' 

Her voice was clear of any inflection, yet Roy knew he would be marched out of here at gunpoint if she thought it would get him to the office on time. 'Thank you, Lieutenant.'

'I have to get to class,' Al added, piling up his books. 'Brother, I'll come back here at lunch to help.'

'You should be studying,' Ed muttered, but there was a faint smile of gratitude on his face as Al shot him a meaningful look. 'Guess you know it all anyway, right?'

'Right.' Al slung his bag on his shoulder, hesitating before he muttered, 'Please be careful.'

Ed's only reply was a nod, and Roy looked across at Hughes. 'What are you going to do?'

'Me and Ed will start looking for the information we need,' Maes said, choosing his words carefully as he glanced towards Riza before giving Roy a reassuring smile. 'Go do what you have to do, Roy. I'll let you know as soon as we get anywhere.'

He wanted to argue, but he knew that wasn't an option. A Brigadier-General couldn't abandon his workload; he simply didn't have that kind of freedom, no matter how much he longed for it. 

Duty called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to keep up with me and my life I am in many places. Check out the links below! 
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	14. Unbreakable

Exhaustion bit at Roy's eyes and dragged at his shoulders, trying to bend him double with its burden. He felt dead with it, but the world had no pity for him. The inexorable march of paperwork across his desk never slowed or faltered, and every spare moment he had was spent combing the library for even a crumb of information about Cole Silverthorne and his murky past.

He seemed to live in a rut between his office and the reading room. His gloves were no longer perfumed by bright, clean sparks. Instead they carried the lingering musty scent of old newspaper and despair – a constant reminder of what was steadily becoming an impossible quest. Roy's days were filled with endless work, and his nights brimmed with pained dreams. Sometimes they weren't so bad: a wall, an offered blindfold and a last goodbye. Those were preferable to the others. He'd rather the pictures painted in his mind were daubed in the bloody crimson of the firing squad than etched in shades of grey.

Those dreams were worse, because at least in death there was some element of control, but in the darkest nightmares even that was gone. It was in the lowest pit of his dreams that he found Ed, no longer an arching, glorious lover, bright and eager with his passion, but a young man dragged down by chains. They rubbed his skin raw and left bruises wherever they touched. Gold eyes had long ago deadened to the world, and all that remained in Ed's face was helplessness. He couldn't fight, he couldn't run – all he could do was sit in the gloom, a hostage to his past.

Cole's possession.

Roy blinked, looking around the empty reading room as his skin prickled with horror. If it were nothing more than a dream, he could have shaken it off, but the vision was steadily becoming reality. It had been less than a week since Ed had been forced to cooperate with Cole's demands, and already Ed seemed quieter – a shut-off version of his former self. There was still fire there, but it was a muted glow where there had once been towering flames. Ed was trapped, and he was relying on them to find the key to his cage.

A greasy, nauseous fist clutched Roy's stomach, and he swallowed against the taste of bile in his throat. In the back of his mind he knew that every day they came up empty-handed, every night they drew a blank, Ed was at Cole's mercy. He couldn't retaliate and risk Cole making good on his threats, and so he was forced to obey like some kind of slave, and Roy had a fairly good idea what “duties” Cole would demand. 

He sucked in a shaky breath and flicked the page of the newspaper, his eyes jumping over the announcements as he scanned for anything useful. He had to find something – he _had_ to – because until he did Cole wouldn't stop. He'd expect Ed underneath him in his bed, and Ed would have no choice but to oblige unless he wanted to face the prospect of fatal retribution, not just for himself, but for his brother.

That was the pivotal part of the problem. Ed would cast aside his own survival in his fury, would disregard all consequences for his personal safety if only he suffered as a result, but Al's life and future were also on the line. Cole had found himself the only bargaining chip he needed to keep Ed in line. 

A sound at the door made him look up, and Roy tried to summon a smile as the younger Elric nudged his way into the room. His arms were stacked with books, each bristling with paper as if he had grabbed them up after his class and bolted for the library, which was probably exactly the case. He had a two hour lunch break today, and Roy knew he planned to put it to good use by trying to help Edward.

'Anything?' Al asked, getting straight to the point. His expressive face fell when Roy shook his head, and he ran a hand through his pale hair as he stared around at the newspapers littering the desk.

'If we had a more precise idea what we were looking for, then we might have more luck, but –' Roy shrugged, bowing his head as he breathed out a tired sigh. 'Has Ed been able to get anything out of Cole?'

'No.' Al's lips twisted into a snarl, and Roy was keenly reminded of how alike the brothers were. Ed always wore exactly the same expression when something, no matter how minor, threatened Alphonse. 'Cole won't tell him anything that he thinks Ed might use. He knows Ed's not going to be like anyone else he's done this to. He knows brother won't lie down and take it easily. I'm amazed that Cole hasn't told Ed he can't leave his house or something. He's practically a prisoner anyway.'

Roy closed the newspaper, pitching it aside and wishing he could burn it to ash for being so useless. He restrained himself, but only because the librarians would throw a fit. The last thing he needed right now was a ban from the archives. 'Cole's not an idiot. He knows that he has to keep up outwards appearances. He has to let Ed continue his life with some element of normalcy, or people might start to suspect something.'

'What do you mean?' Al asked, tugging another paper towards him and opening its sheaves. 'Wouldn't that be a good thing? Couldn't they stop him?'

In some ways, Al remained heartbreakingly innocent of human-nature. Perhaps it was because his brother had taken most of the hard knocks for him, but Roy doubted that Ed would ever be so trusting of humanity. 'Not necessarily. If the wrong person suspected something and brought it to the attention of the military, there would be an investigation, and there's no hiding when the top brass really put their minds to something.'

He sighed, seeing the confusion in Al's face. 'If someone suspects your brother is being blackmailed, he'll be brought in for questioning. Ed's seen a lot that the army would rather pretend never happened, and they won't want him in anyone else's power.' He pulled a face, feeling his chest go tight. 'They won't ask nicely, Al. They'll use any means necessary to get the truth from Ed, and the end result will be the same.'

'They'll kill us.'

The truth was whispered into the hush of the reading room, gong-loud to Roy's ears, and he nodded silently. 'At the moment, Cole's in control about how and when the military find out about your past, and he'll want it to stay that way.'

Al looked at him, his lips pursed miserably as he tried to give a weak smile. 'You sound almost like you think it’s a good thing,' he pointed out.

Roy straightened up, turning to look out of the window at the frost-pale sky beyond. 'It means there are some boundaries even Silverthorne can't cross, not if he wants to keep this going. It's like a set of scales. We need to keep it balanced until we can tip things in our favour, and Cole needs to do the same. If someone else comes in and upsets the equilibrium, then everyone's lost. Cole won't have Ed –'

'And we won't have anything,' Al finished, biting his lip hard. The bond between the two brothers was unbreakable, and this had to be hurting them both. 'I hate this. I hate seeing Ed so –' He waved a hand like he didn't even know the right word. '– trapped. It's not fair!'

Dozens of reassurances streamed across Roy's mind, but they were all useless. He wanted to tell Al they were doing everything they could, but Al knew as well as he did that they were getting nowhere. He wanted to say that Ed would cope, would survive whatever Cole threw at him out of sheer stubbornness, but how could he do that when his heart keened with doubt?

‘I know,’ he said quietly. ‘I know it’s not fair, and I know that it seems like everything we’re doing isn’t enough, but we’ll get there. I won’t let Ed suffer any longer than he has to.’

He could feel the weight of Al’s gaze on him, intelligent and sharp, and when he looked up he saw the mask of misery that shrouded Alphonse’s expression. ‘I’ve never seen Ed like this before,’ he said quietly, bracing his weight on his palms and staring downwards at the paper on the table. ‘Normally when he’s in trouble, he fights it. He punches and kicks and bites until he’s free of it, but now he’s just – taking it.'

'There's not much else he can do,' Roy said quietly. 'If he merely injured Cole, then he'd carry through with his threat. If he killed him –' He shrugged. Ed was normally averse to taking a life on principle, but then he had never been in this situation before. Could he honestly look at Cole and not want to simply put him down? 'If Ed killed him, then past evidence suggests that the Silverthornes would eradicate both of you. They wouldn't consider the details; they would simple wipe out Ed for his action and you for sharing his blood.'

A small noise caught in Al's throat, an almost sob that made the lump of fear in Roy's chest tighten. 'I keep thinking that if it wasn't for me, then Brother wouldn't be so afraid of what might happen to him. He would at least think of calling Cole's bluff as an option, but he won't risk it when I'm threatened too. Me being around makes him vulnerable.'

Roy was already shaking his head fervently, staring across the expanse of the table. 'Al, all you have to do is ask anyone who knows the two of you, and they'll say you're his strength. It's because of you that he gets up again when he's knocked down, and it's because of you that he'll carry on fighting Cole in any way he can.' Roy sighed, feeling a stormy headache building under his brow. 'It's just a more subtle kind of conflict than he's used to. Sooner or later, Cole will let his guard down and give Ed the advantage he needs. In the meantime, we keep looking.' He clenched his hands into fists on the desk as he added in a low, pained voice, 'It's all we can do.'

Calm settled around them and, for a while, there was only the sound of rustling newspaper and Al's nervous movements: the drum of fingers on wood and the occasional sigh as if he had something on his mind but didn't know how to put it into words. It was only when he finally spoke – his voice quiet, peaceful, _sure_ – that Roy looked up.

'I don't know whether you're right or not, Brigadier-General, about me being Ed's strength, but it's pretty obvious I'm not the only one he's protecting. He doesn't want to see you suffer either.'

Roy gave a short, mirthless laugh, shaking his head as he hesitated over an article mentioning the Silverthornes, but there was nothing scandalous in the dense print. 'I don't think Ed's too concerned about my welfare, Alphonse, not after this.'

'He's angry,' Al pointed out, 'but that doesn't mean he doesn't care.'

Roy sucked in a breath, feeling a sick flare of pain that he had been trying to ignore. Every time his mind returned to dwell on the ruins of what could have been between himself and Edward, he had dragged himself back to dealing with the problem of Cole. Better to face the obvious threat and try to neutralise it than grapple with the hurt that resonated beneath his ribs. 

'Ed's made it more than clear that I'm almost the last person in the world he ever wants to see again,' he said roughly, clearing his throat as he tried to erase the edge of sadness from his voice, 'and I can't say I don't deserve his rage.' He glanced at the clock, realising that he would be eating his lunch at his desk again. His hour had ebbed away, and if he didn't leave soon then Lieutenant Hawkeye would track him down. 

'I need to get back to the office,' he said, stepping back from the scuffed and battered table before walking towards the door. 'If you find anything... .'

'You'll be the first to know. Roy?'

He looked over his shoulder, surprised to hear his first name on Al's lips, but it had caught his attention. When Al gave a tiny, hopeful smile he realised that had been the whole point.

'I know you're not going to give up on this,' He waved a hand to indicate their exhausting search, 'but you shouldn't give up on Ed, either.' Now he hesitated, glancing away before looking back and lifting his chin stubbornly, more like his brother than ever. 'He hasn't given up on you, no matter what he says otherwise.'

Roy hesitated, half-turning towards Al as he wondered how he could be so certain. Had Ed said something, or was Al just trying to give him some faint, desperate hope? He almost asked the question out loud, but something stopped him. He might want the answer, but he didn't need it. Hadn't Ed accused him of always demanding to have all the information, of always wanting to be in control? Maybe Edward had been right, but that didn't mean Roy couldn't break the habit.

With a quick nod of understanding, Roy turned away, leaving Al to continue his hunt through endless black type and grainy images for the one gleaming gem of information that they needed. He desperately hoped that Alphonse would find something, but if he didn't, then Roy would return to the library that night, and he would keep coming back until they had won. He would walk that familiar path and climb those steps and lose himself in the news that had turned to history, and he would do it willingly.

This was for Ed, and that meant one thing: No surrender.


	15. Uncomfortable

A knock on Roy's office door made him look up from his paperwork, and a pained grimace twisted his face. He knew his men's manners of arrival and departure like the back of his hand, but that particular tap on wood was a new sound. It had only started happening over the past ten days or so, even though its owner had been barging in and out of this room like he owned the place for years.

'Come in,' he said, trying to keep his face blank of desperate concern as Ed opened the door a fraction and slipped through the gap before closing out the world.

He didn't step further into the room immediately, but glanced around with slow, animal-like wariness as he assessed the territory for threats. It was enough to make Roy's hand tighten angrily on his pen, because even in the middle of a life-threatening situation Ed didn't stop to see if he was safe. He would dive in, teeth gritted and automail bared to fight his way through to the other side, as confident and unfaltering as the sun.

Now, that was almost gone, and Roy would gladly kill Cole Silverthorne a thousand times over for reducing Ed to _this_.

Getting to his feet, Roy stepped around the desk, removing the thick barrier of wood between them. At his movement, Ed's eyes focussed on him and, for the first time in almost a fortnight, Roy felt something like relief. Ed's posture might be beaten and his attitude wary, but banked in that gaze was the same familiar anger that had pushed Ed on through all the trials in his life. He was furious, and Roy could almost feel sorry for Cole when Ed was finally able to unleash the wrath within.

'He's getting stupid,' Ed said bluntly, taking a few steps into the room before coming to a halt. When he stopped, his stance instantly fell into something more familiar to Roy. Arms folded, weight rested on one hip and chin lifted in defiance. Ed might have been forced to hunch away from Cole, but he would never do the same in Roy's presence.

It was like a ray of light at the end of the darkest tunnel, and Roy leaned back against the desk, keeping his body language as open and passive as his tense mood would allow. 'Have you found out anything we can use?'

Ed wrinkled his nose and shook his head. 'No, have you?'

'No.' Roy sighed, wishing he could give a different answer. It had been eleven days since Ed had been forced to bow to Cole's blackmail attempts, and the fruitless search continued. 'Hughes and I have both been hunting whenever we get the chance, but we're coming up empty-handed.'

A heavy silence fell for a moment, and he could feel the edge of Ed's fear on the air like a flicker of lightning through the storm clouds. 'The fucker'll let something slip,' Ed muttered. 'He's getting cocky, like he thinks he's won.'

Roy saw the tension in Ed's shoulders and knew that Cole was sorely mistaken. He might have been the victor in one battle, but that did not mean the war was over, and Ed was a fearsome adversary. All they needed was something to loosen Silverthorne's stranglehold on them so that they could retaliate. Yet the key to the whole problem remained frustratingly elusive, and they were all wearing themselves into the ground with the search.

Belatedly, he realised that Ed was watching him, reading him like a book, and it was already too late to shut off whatever emotions might be showing on his face. All he could do was bear the scrutiny until Ed finally spoke.

'You look like shit. Al says you've been in the library whenever you get the chance, but –' He shrugged angrily, like he'd been baffled by this puzzle for far too long. '-- why are you doing it? It's not like anyone asked you to.'

Roy scratched at his stubbled jaw, letting his eyes close for a moment before dragging them open and meeting Ed's confusion head on. It was almost exhausting to see, because Roy knew that the truth would go in one ear and out of the other. Ed wouldn't believe he was trying to help, but what other reason was there?

'I was meant to hide the evidence about your past,' he began quietly, 'and my efforts weren't good enough. The least I can do is try and get you out of the trouble it's caused.'

'And save your own skin in the process,' Ed pointed out, but the animosity in his voice was a toothless thing, and Roy was struck all over again by the yawning distance, emotional and physical, between them. Ed wasn't just angry at him – this wasn't a brief, fierce storm to be weathered. Instead, it was a season of discontent. Ed's disappointment was like a shroud over them both, stifling and impossible to fight, and Roy didn't know if it would ever lift.

Ed shook his head like it didn't matter, turning away to prowl: a tiger, restless in its captivity. 'I didn't come here to talk about this anyway. You wanted a report on the Emerald Alchemist. Truth is, I've still got no fucking clue what did him in. I wanted to see where his body was found, but the guards at his place said they wouldn't let me in without you there.'

He glared, like such annoyances of authority were Roy's fault. 'I'm at a dead end with it, so either you've got to come with me so I can do my job, or you can give me another assignment.'

Roy bowed his head, wishing that was an option. When everything had started to go south with Cole, he had been torn between praying for a long-distance mission for Ed and dreading what Silverthorne would do if his pet was sent away. The military couldn't be denied, Cole was smart enough to know that, but that didn't mean he wouldn't make Ed pay for his absence. In the end, nothing had landed on his desk that would benefit from Ed's expertise. It seemed that all the trouble was on their doorstep rather than at the country's borders.

'I'll come with you,' he said at last, straightening up. 'I've not had a chance to take in the scene myself, anyway.' Not meeting Ed's eyes, he reached across the desk for his gloves, pulling them on before leading the way out of the office. 

He told Hawkeye where they would be, promising to be back as soon as possible. She didn't comment, but the slight lift of one eyebrow suggested she had questions aplenty. His command knew that something was wrong, something they hadn't been told about, and he knew that he would have to explain if – no, _when_ – this whole sorry mess came to an end.

Ed followed Roy out into the corridor, matching his pace as they made their way through the halls of Headquarters. It was busy at this time of the morning, but no one paid attention to the two of them as they trotted down the steps and onto the packed earth of the parade ground.

'They're getting suspicious,' Ed mumbled, and Roy didn't need any clarification. He was talking about Roy's men, each of them bright in their own way, and intimately attuned to the mood of every member of the team.

'Concerned,' he corrected automatically. 'I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing their best to find out what's going on, but it's the right choice not to involve them.'

'You're protecting them.' 

It wasn't a question, but nor was it an accusation. In fact, it almost sounded like Ed approved. He might be up to his neck in trouble, but that didn't mean he wanted to drag everyone else down with him.

'And ourselves,' Roy added. 'The more people who know about what's going on, the more chance there is of it getting back to the military no matter what we do. I don't doubt my command's loyalty, but everyone has a weakness that can be exploited. I don't want to leave them open to that kind of attack.' 

He fell silent as they crossed the perimeter, nodding a brief greeting to the sentries before turning right along the road. 'It's only a couple of blocks away, so there's not much point in taking the car, unless you think Cole might see the two of us together and react badly?'

Ed shrugged, looking around at the autumn sunlight that dappled the street. 'He might. Not that it matters – I've got to go to work, and you're a part of that whether he likes it or not.' There was a hard edge to Ed's voice, as if he didn't like Roy's involvement in his professional life any more than Cole did, but it faded as he added, 'Besides, he says more than he means to when I piss him off.'

Roy tensed, turning his head to search Ed's profile for any more information. It was a challenge not to reach out and hold him, not to demand answers to ease his fears, but somehow Roy doubted that the truth would soothe him.

His concern must have been written all over his face, because Ed said, 'Hey, you're the one who told me to push the limits, remember?' He gave Roy a puzzled, angry look out of the corner of his eye. 'It's not like I'm going to take his shit anyway. At least if he's yelling then he's not wanting – other things.' Ed's shoulders hunched at that, and he turned his head to look across the street rather than meeting Roy's gaze.

Nausea cramped Roy's stomach, and he dragged a hand across his face as he tried to sort out the tangle of his thoughts. He knew what Ed was talking about, knew that Cole demanded sex and that Ed had no real choice but to agree. It was rape by another name, and deep, visceral rage flared as Roy realised that, even if any court would listen, they were powerless to prove what was happening without dragging Ed's history into the proceedings. 

'I'm worried about you.' His voice was a rough hush, cracked with the kind of pain that didn't come from a wound. 'I wish there was something I could do.'

Ed stayed quiet for a bit, kicking at an empty bottle and listening to it clang into the gutter before he said, 'From what Al says, you're doing everything you can. I'll deal with Cole. It's easier than it was, anyway.'

Roy almost asked him what he meant, but something in Ed's expression suggested it was something he didn't want to discuss, and Roy knew when to hold his silence. No words could undo Cole's cruelty or abuse, nor wipe out the stain Roy knew it would leave on Ed's life. All he could do was keep trying to discover the loose thread in the plot, and when he found it, he would pull until all of Cole's machinations fell apart.

He pushed his hands into his pocket, turning the corner into the Emerald Alchemist's street. Roy could see the guards by the old alchemist's front door, and his pocket watch was heavy in his palm as he approached. No questions were asked, and the two soldiers let them in without hesitation. The stars on Roy's shoulder spoke for themselves, as did the symbols drawn like blood on the white of his gloves. Sometimes it was good to need no introduction.

The Emerald Alchemist's house was grave-quiet, but they didn't need to go in far to see the remains of the array that he had been using when he died. White chalk-lines were scrawled on the floor of the large front hall. They were fading now, but the design was still visible in all of its tangled glory. If Roy hadn't spent hours poring over it at Ed's side, he would have been baffled by its construction, but now he could see the individual elements and the logic within the confusion.

Skirting around the periphery, he moved to check the rest of the house, knowing that Ed would be focussed on the array and nothing else. Floorboards creaked under his boots as he let the tide of his professional duties wash away his personal concerns. At least here, in solving this puzzle, there was something comforting and familiar. This was within his control, and the power came as a relief after days of helplessness.

He moved through the rooms like a ghost, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The place was a mess of abandoned books and dirty plates, now growing interesting new forms of life on their surfaces. The clock on the mantel had stopped, but the water dripping from the kitchen tap still marked out the seconds as Roy walked back through to the front hall.

A quick glance at Ed told him that he was still examining the original design, and Roy left him to it as he climbed the stairs, finding two bedrooms and a bathroom before he stumbled across the study. It was a poky little book-lined room with paperwork strewn across the battered desk. The carpet was threadbare, and patchy curtains were drawn across the window to form a dark little den. 

Roy sighed and began to thumb through the piles, his gloves startlingly white against the crisp, old paper. After a few minutes, he noticed an edge of blue card was poking out from underneath a pile of books, and Roy could just make out part of the neatly typed label:

“ _Elri_ –”.

He snatched at it, pulling it free and staring at Ed's name in bafflement. It was the outer cover of a personnel file, there was no doubt about that. Military dossiers were kept within different coloured sheaves, depending on their content, and those detailing the personal backgrounds of staff were always double wrapped for a feeble fraction of extra security. This was probably the outermost cover of the file that held the secret to Ed's past, but what the hell was it doing here?

'Hey, Mustang, where'd you go?' 

Tapping the folded cardboard against his hand thoughtfully, Roy left the study, moving along the upper landing to the top of the stairs. Ed was still kneeling at the side of the array, but his head was cocked to one side and his eyes were bright with the familiar spark of discovery.

'You found something?' he asked, walking down the steps until he was standing on the opposite edge of the design to Ed.

'Look at the floor.'

Roy did as he was instructed, sweeping his gaze across the bare, sanded boards as he tried to see what had caught Ed's attention. 'What about it?'

Ed snorted like Roy was being blind and waved a hand downward in emphasis. 'The Emerald Alchemist had been doing transmutations for years. He had the wood smoothed down to create the perfect canvas. Look at it – there aren't any cracks or splits, nothing to make an array go to shit as soon as you touch it, except this.'

He tapped his fingers against one of the boards, and Roy instantly realised what had put that light back in Ed's eyes. It was a neat, clear groove, still splintered at its edges, obviously man-made. It neatly carved across the outer line of the array and into one of the symbols, completely destroying the flow of energy within the array.

'I'm guessing a non-alchemist copied the design down for the files,' Ed muttered accusingly, 'because anyone who knew what they were doing would realise this was the cause of death.' He sat back on his heels and cuffed his hair out of his eyes. 'I was right, the array did eat him, but it wasn't his fault.'

Roy shifted, crouching at Ed's left side and brushing a gloved finger down the line that was scored in the floor. It was singed, marked with the chemicals of a transmutation gone wild, and Roy frowned as his mind settled on an uncomfortable suspicion.

'Someone was here while he activated the array. They sliced it apart mid-transmutation. Right?' 

Looking up at Ed for confirmation, Roy's breath stopped in his throat. He had meant to keep a professional distance, but now their shoulders were brushing against one another, and he could feel the warmth of Ed's arm through his jacket. Ed's eyes had widened with surprise at the sudden proximity, and Roy noticed his gaze dart briefly, fatefully, down to his lips before lifting up again. Nothing in the world could have hidden the lingering flare of heat in the depths of all that gold, and Roy's heart leapt with keening hope. 

He stifled it quickly as Ed seemed to blink himself awake and remember – what? Cole's threats, the fact that Roy had crept around behind his back to protect him, or both? Whatever the memory, it was enough to kill the sudden crackling edge to the air, and Roy swallowed a sigh as Ed shifted away and cleared his throat.

'Right,' he confirmed in a quiet voice. 'Someone wanted him dead, and they did it without causing any mess. Would've been the perfect crime, except that I know murder when I see it.' He got to his feet with a grunt, stepping back as Roy followed suit. 'Question is, who'd want to kill a harmless old alchemist like that?'

Roy pursed his lips, looking down at the piece of card in his hands. 'I wonder if he knew the Silverthorne family,' he said quietly, seeing Ed flinch out of the corner of his eye.

'Why? What –?' Ed blinked as Roy held out the cover for him to take. He almost heard Ed's thoughts crash to a halt as he read his own name on its edge. 'Where was this?'

'In his study. Cole would have needed an alchemist to explain the jargon in your file. That's the only reason I can think of for part of your personnel dossier to be in this house.' Roy put his hands in his pockets, bowing his head. 'I'm guessing that, once Cole had the information he needed, he killed the only other person who knew about it. He might not be an alchemist, but everyone knows that you can make a transmutation go horribly wrong if you break the circle.'

Ed's shock was palpable, a thick, cool veil in the air, and when he spoke his voice was nothing but a whisper. 'He died because of me, because Cole wanted something to keep me in line, and the fucker's going to get away with it.'

Roy looked up, the automatic denial already on his lips, but Ed wasn't facing him. His arms were crossed and his body half-turned away like a feral animal shielding its wounds. 

He didn't even glance up as Roy approached, and it wasn't until the rough fabric of Roy's glove brushed his jaw that he lifted his head. Roy had expected him to snap and back away from the touch, all anger and pain, but Ed held his ground, the spark in his gaze daring Roy to contradict him.

'We'll make sure Cole's punished,' Roy promised, filling his voice with the solid foundations of certainty as he dropped his hand back to his side. 'We'll see him suffer for this, as well as everything he's done to you.'

'How?' Ed asked. 'We've been looking for days and found nothing to use against him. Even now, when you and I both know he's committed murder, we're still stuck under his thumb! What else are you expecting to find?'

Roy bit his lip, resonating with the despair in Ed's voice, but he had to be strong. There was no time for even a flicker of doubt, not now. 'Sometimes the most innocent of things can be a man's downfall, we just have to find it.'

With a pained noise, Ed turned away, heading for the front door. He stopped on the threshold, and his next words were spoken in the voice of someone who was on the brink of accepting defeat. 

'Then you'd better hurry up, Mustang, because I don't know how much more of this I can take.'


	16. Unobtainable

_A dry wind blew against his face, sweeping mournful fingers across his cheeks. He couldn't see anything, but he could smell the pervasive scent of the desert sand. That fragrance haunted him in the worst moments of his life, and now it was here again, a spectator to the end._

_There were no shouted orders, but the quiet clicks of rifles held in steady hands created a mechanical harmony to the thrashing beat of his heart. At his back, the sun-baked wall was a steady presence, and he tried not to think about the splatters of blood that probably stained the stone. How many men had died here, put down like dogs?_

_Next to him, he felt the warmth of another body. Shoulder-to-shoulder, he could hear Ed's tight breaths, measured and steady like he was forcing himself to keep panic at bay. Al would be there too, somewhere, and Roy's thoughts screamed for the two young men who had escaped death so many times. How had it come to this?_

_The blindfold was getting wet – sweat or tears, it didn't make any difference. Every inch of his skin was crawling in anticipation of the biting bullets, and a quiet gasp lodged in his throat as the nearby guns were cocked in unison._

_His hands weren't tied, but he couldn't move them. They rested at his sides, doll-like and useless; an upheld palm couldn't stop a bullet anyway._

_Warm fingers slipped between his. The gesture was shielded from the soldiers by the press of their bodies, and the lump in Roy's throat swelled as he squeezed back, trying to convey so much in a single grip._

_He almost didn't hear Ed's whispered words over the breathy wail of the wind in his ears._

_'I'm here, Roy.'_

He jerked awake, the sound of imaginary gunshots ringing in his ears as his heart tried to leap into his throat. Panic veiled everything, and it took him a second to realise that he'd fallen asleep in the reading room, seated at the table with his arm folded on top of the newspapers he was supposed to be looking through.

And he wasn't alone. 

A gloved hand was wrapped around his wrist, the grip just tight enough to stop him from pulling away, and Roy looked up the length of a black clad arm into Ed's startled face. 

'Mustang, are you all right?' Ed's eyebrows were almost in his hairline, and he tipped his head to one side in puzzlement as Roy gave a silent nod. 'You looked like you were going to die in your sleep.'

It had felt like it, too, but Roy managed a shadow of a smile as he shook his head. He didn't want Ed to know the toll that this whole mess was taking on his mental health, and his mask slipped easily into place as he replied, 'Just a strange dream, that's all.' 

He rubbed at one eye with the heel of his palm and forced himself to focus. The reading room was relatively private, so there was a good chance no one else had seen him in here. A quick glance at the clock told him neither Hughes nor Alphonse was due for another half hour, and he'd wasted a good forty-five minutes sleeping when he should have been continuing the search.

'What are you doing here, anyway?' he asked. 'Shouldn't you be with Cole?' He took in Ed's appearance with a swift glance, noticing tousled hair and flushed cheeks. He looked as if he'd been running, but there was no hunted look in his eyes. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. Now that the concern was fading from Ed's gaze, the gleam there was triumphant and predatory.

It had been several days since Ed had walked out of the Emerald Alchemist's home, and when he had left he had seemed almost beaten. Now there was no sign of that, and Roy's heart lifted in hope as Ed dragged out a chair and sat on it, propping his muddy boots on the table. 

'The bastard made a mistake,' he said with a grin. It was short-lived, a flash of mirth in a serious face, but it was a thousand times better than the grimaces and flinches that had graced Ed's features before. 'It's not much, but I know where the file is.'

Roy sat up straighter, feeling more energy than he had in days. 'Where?'

'In Central Bank. Cole got a visitor – someone called Miller, and I overheard everything they said. Apparently, Cole owes the bank some money in fees for keeping his assets safe and, if he doesn't pay, the documents in their possession will be destroyed.' Ed smiled, as if amused by the memory. 'Cole freaked out, said it was the only copy of “that military file” in existence. Unless he's been hoarding the army's papers, I'd say it's what we're looking for.'

Roy nodded, curving his fingers over his mouth as he gave it some thought. It wasn't definitive proof, but it was the best clue they'd had since all this started. 'I don't suppose there's any chance that he couldn't pay and the bank will solve the problem for us?' he asked, but even as he said it he knew he wouldn't trust someone else not to use the evidence for their own gain.

'No, Cole threw an envelope full of money at the guy and told him to get out. I don't know how high their fees are, but it was probably enough to keep it safe for a while longer.' Ed's smile faded, and he looked at Roy from behind the fall of his hair. 'I'd kind of been hoping that Cole was an idiot – every time I've had the chance I've searched his place for any sign of that damn thing, but I came up with nothing. Now it turns out he was smart enough to put it in the bank. How the hell are we going to get it back?'

Roy grimaced as he raced through the options in his head, examining and discarding each in turn. 'Just because the file's in the bank doesn't mean it's unobtainable. Normally if official documents are stolen, it's possible for the military to get them back through approved channels, but not without the contents coming under serious, repeated scrutiny,' he explained. 'We want to avoid that at all costs, so it looks like we might be on our own.'

'So what, we break in?' Ed said jokingly, his eyes widening when Roy paused to give the idea his consideration. 'You can't be serious, Mustang! We can't just raid the place and take it back.' He hesitated, and Roy could almost see the flash and spark of his mind working. 'Can we?'

'It's a possibility worth considering, unless you think you can withdraw the file by more acceptable means. Perhaps forge Cole's signature on the release documents? Although, if the bank's any good they'll demand that he sign them at the counter.' Roy grimaced, leaning back in his chair and staring blankly at the ceiling.

'I could just drag him in there and make him sign stuff. If his life's in danger, then he'll probably cooperate.' Ed's bared his teeth in a snarl, and Roy knew he would love to see Cole writhe. 

'And if he doesn't? Are you willing to go through with the threat and kill him?' Roy watched the battle between rage and morality on Ed's face, and it was clear there was no real victor. 'If you force him to get the file back and he doesn't fold, murder will be your only choice. If you can't do that then he'll just hand the file over to the military at the first opportunity and leave you to face the consequences.'

Ed was pale, bleached out by the rapid twist of his emotions, and his gold eyes flickered towards the dusk beyond the window as Roy continued.

'If you hurt Cole, he'll turn you and the file over to the military. If you kill him, then you'll be facing the Silverthornes. They have eyes everywhere, and they'll watch out for their kin for as long as it suits them.' He pressed his lips together before murmuring, 'It's not just you they'll punish.'

'I know!' Ed snarled, closing his eyes tight and clenching his jaw. He took a deep breath and let it out in a huff before repeating, 'I know. It's just that I almost don't care about that anymore. At least if I kill him then you're safe. His family won't give a shit about you, and I can grab Al and run. We can start over somewhere else, somewhere they won't find us.'

'You'll be running forever. You'll never be free of them.' Roy bit his lip, knowing that Ed was reaching his breaking point. With every passing hour, choices that had seemed impossible a week ago were steadily becoming more appealing, and he wondered how much longer it would be before Ed damned the consequences and simply took matters into his own hands.

'Give me one more week to try and get everyone out of this unscathed,' he begged. 'If I haven't managed it by then, I'll help you carry out whatever course of action that you feel is necessary.'

Ed stared at him, eyes narrowed and calculating as if he thought Roy was setting him up for a fall. Eventually, when he saw nothing but honesty and desperation in Roy's expression, he nodded. 'One week, Mustang. After that, I'm fighting my way out and taking Al with me. We'll manage somehow.'

It hurt to ask, but the question was like a blade on Roy's tongue, too sharp to keep in his mouth. 'And if you lose?'

Gold eyes flashed with a vivid mix of fear and anger, and Ed shook his head at the quiet challenge. 'It's not like whatever they do to us will be worse than the firing squad, is it?'

Roy briefly closed his eyes as his stomach went tight. The memory of his dream fluttered across his vision. 'You sound like you think you've got nothing to lose,' he murmured, trying to read Ed's blank expression. 'The point of this isn't just to stop Cole from winning, Ed, it's to make sure we all make it through and out the other side, and that means taking calculated risks, not throwing everything away in one last ditch attempt at freedom – not yet, anyway.'

'He's right, Brother.'

Al's voice made them both look up to the doorway, where he and Hughes stood watching them. Both looked tired, but there was no mistaking the fierce gleam in Alphonse's eyes as he regarded Ed with typical Elric determination. 'Whatever you want to do, you know I'll help. We can leave tonight if you want. I can always study somewhere else – in another country if I have to, but I'd rather not if we have any choice.' He stepped forward, and there was nothing childish in his expression. 'We went through so much to get my body back, and I don't plan to let Cole take away the lives that we fought so hard for.'

Roy watched Ed, seeing him bow his head in defeat, and something writhed beneath Roy's ribs in sick concern. It was all very well them sitting here and telling Ed what he should and shouldn't do – that he should wait and have faith that they'd get him through – but none of them were in his shoes. Their futures were at stake, but Ed's present was already a twisted kind of living hell, and Roy couldn't blame him for wanting out by any means necessary. 

'Hughes,' Roy said, 'Ed overheard Cole mentioning a military file stored in Central Bank. Can you think of any way we can get it? Anything at all?' He was desperate for some legal alternative, but as soon as Ed had joked about robbing the bank, some part of Roy had realised that it was the safest, most discreet chance they had at getting that file back into their possession.

Maes' lips tilted into a flicker of a smile, a brief celebration of that new crumb of knowledge. 'Not really, not unless you want to risk half the military knowing what's inside it.' He raised a doubtful eyebrow as his gaze swept over Roy's face. Maes had known him too long not to realise what he was thinking, and Roy watched his friend shake his head in disbelief. 'You're thinking of stealing it back, aren't you?'

'It's military property, so it's not technically stealing,' Roy pointed out. 'Do you have any better ideas? We've been spending hours searching for something to use against Cole in the hopes of getting him to surrender the file, but he could just as easily call us out and hand over the evidence to the Fuhrer anyway. The best way to make sure that dossier remains unseen is to take it away from him.'

'But breaking into a bank?' Hughes pulled out a chair and sat in it, dragging some of the old papers towards him with a shake of his head. 'It won't be easy, and if you get caught....' He trailed off, glancing over at Ed before looking back at Roy, no doubt trying to find some fraction of sense between the two of them.

Eventually, he gave up, pushing his glasses up to rub at his eyes. 'I would say that you should try drugging Cole or something, anything to make him more cooperative and give up the papers, but I imagine you've already decided that's too risky?'

Roy nodded, steepling his hands in front of his face and checking that Hughes had shut the door behind him. 'I doubt the bank would give out anything belonging to a Silverthorne to anyone not recognised as one of the family, and having Cole there, even incapacitated, is a rogue element. I know it sounds almost ridiculous, but if we break in, then we can plan for every eventuality. It will be under our control.'

Closing his eyes, Maes gave a brief nod, getting to his feet and beckoning for Roy to follow him. 'Every building constructed in the past century has to file plans with the military archives, in case we need them for strategic purposes. If I remember rightly, they built that place about five years ago to offer the best security possible. Before you make a decision, you need to see what you're up against.'

'We'll keep looking here,' Al called out, nudging a paper over to his brother, who glanced warily at the clock before beginning to read. 'Maybe we'll find something, and then we won't have to do anything drastic.' 

It was a feeble hope, but Roy cast a faint smile over his shoulder before following Hughes out into the main library. He moved towards the front desk with a purposeful stride, and Roy saw the young woman there give Maes a look of faint dread. Intelligence officers frequently needed access to the archives, and the librarian looked like she'd rather do anything than root through the stacks for some obscure document this close to the end of the day.

'Yes, sir?' she asked tremulously, scooping up a pencil and a sheet of paper to scribble down Hughes' request. To her credit, she didn't even blink when he requested blueprints for the bank and any nearby buildings, and Roy watched her trot off into the distance.

'Don't you need to give her a reason for that kind of thing?' he asked. 'Every time I want something, I have to sign forms in triplicate.'

Maes propped himself against the desk, casual and easy as he looked towards the door. 'It's one of the many benefits of being in Intelligence. You don't have to explain yourself very often, and there's no one like Hawkeye to make sure we use the proper channels.' He grinned, but it was a brief flash of white before it was gone again. 'You realise what you're planning here, right? It's not just a clever manipulation, it's a crime. If you're caught, everything you've worked for over the past decade is gone.'

Roy swallowed as a swift dart of cold horror rushed down his spine. All those years of hard work, of putting himself in the right place, knowing the right people and always being seen to do the right thing would be dust in the wind if this went wrong. Yet he knew that if he didn't try, Ed would be forced to fight and flee, and could Roy honestly live the rest of his life happily knowing that Ed was out there somewhere, hurt or scared or just – gone?

'I know,' he replied, folding his arms across his chest as he felt his face turn pale, 'but I have to try. You were listening at the door, Maes. You heard what Ed said. He can't take much more.' Deep inside Roy's chest, the harsh flicker of anger began to build. 'Cole's forcing him to do fuck knows what, and all he can do is lie back and accept it. I can't –' He stopped, forcing himself to take a deep breath as his thoughts rampaged around his mind. 'I know how badly this could end, but I can't stand by and do nothing.'

Hughes watched him steadily, his eyes intent behind his glasses before he let out a sad sigh. 'You really do love him, don't you?'

'You were the one who noticed it first, remember?' Roy pointed out, picking absently at a loose thread on his gloves. 'I don't know why you sound so surprised.'

'It was a hunch.' Maes shrugged, and this time his smile was more solid. 'It's nice to know I'm right, though.'

Roy stared blankly at the front door, watching the straggling researchers come and go and seeing none of them at all. 'It doesn't matter how I feel. Ed doesn't want anything to do with me, and I'm not helping him now in some stupid effort to win him over.'

'No, but you're not doing it for yourself, either.' Hughes clapped him on the shoulder, straightening up as the librarian staggered up the steps from the underground stores, her arms full of blueprints. 'Besides, Roy, it's like I said months ago, back at the bar: love's worth fighting for, isn't it?'

A faint smile curved Roy's lips as memories washed over him: working at Ed's side on the Emerald Alchemist's array, innocent touches and sparkling chemistry. Maybe now that was all hidden by Ed's anger and hurt but, every now and again, Roy saw the glowing embers of its heat in Ed's eyes, muted, but alive. Even if that fire went out then Roy knew one thing for certain: he would do anything to see Ed free of Cole's tyranny.

In his pocket, the sound of his ticking watch seemed to grow louder. Ed had given him one more week to break them free of Cole's blackmail, and Roy was determined to keep that promise – whatever it took.


	17. Unimaginable

'These are due by noon, sir, and I thought it best to remind you that the Fuhrer's ball is tonight.'

Roy blinked up at Hawkeye, his addled brain screeching to a halt as his pen paused over the report in front of him. 'Ball?' he asked stupidly, watching Riza's eyes tighten a fraction in resigned annoyance. 

'Yes sir, it's mandatory attendance. The memo has been on your desk for more than a week,' she added with an edge of disapproval.

He looked guiltily at the piles of folders and ragged sheaves of papers that were stacked on every spare inch of the surface in front of him. It made a cruel sort of sense that, in a hellish fortnight when he needed a small workload, it practically rained with reports demanding his immediate attention. 'Ah, thank you, Lieutenant. I'll try and dig it out before the end of the day.'

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow, no doubt viewing his promise as a vain hope. Her arms were clutched around another set of files, but her knuckles were white, as if she was barely resisting the urge to reach for her gun. 'It begins at seven, sir, at the Fuhrer's residence, and it will be both a military and civilian event, which means –'

'Put on a good show.' Roy sighed, already feeling drained by the thought of an evening of tedious conversation. 'Tell Fullmetal, Breda and Havoc that they'll be attending, and make sure they're prepared. I'll do my best to finish all of this.' He gestured to the reports with a white-gloved hand and gallantly ignored the dubious tilt to Hawkeye's lips as she nodded and turned away.

Roy watched her leave, almost cringing with guilt. Ever since this whole thing with Cole had broken open like a rotten egg, Roy's efforts had revolved around its putrid centre, desperately searching for an escape for them all. Paperwork had been the last thing on his mind, and now he was paying the price as the already noticeable backlog grew beyond all proportions.

Straightening his shoulders, Roy took a deep breath, knowing what he would have to do. It was no good fighting his way out of this mess with Silverthorne only to be shot by Hawkeye for being so far behind with his responsibilities. Life didn't stop just because one facet had gone to hell, and duty was an unfailing constant.

Focussing on the page in front of him, Roy blocked out all distractions, skimming through one document after another and swirling his signature where necessary. It was almost a relief to lose himself in the monotony of military bureaucracy, and he barely noticed the steady ticking of the clock marking off time. He ate lunch at his desk, confident in the fact that Hughes and Alphonse would both be in the archives, still looking desperately for some information that they could use against Cole.

As for Ed – Roy paused, his gaze hovering on the empty rug in front of his desk before turning back down to the page – he didn't know where Ed was. He had left the library the previous night with the quiet promise to find out more about where his personnel file was kept, but Roy hadn't seen him this morning. Of course, he might just be in the library, researching or working or something, but he couldn't forget Ed's muted desperation.

He had sworn he'd give Roy one more week to sort this all out before he did anything rash, but what if he'd not been able to keep his word? What if Ed was already gone? What if, yesterday, Roy had seen him for the last time and hadn't even realised it?

No, Ed had promised. Besides, Roy had seen Alphonse that morning on his way to class. Ed might be happy to leave a lot of things behind, but he would never abandon his little brother. 

He was just putting the penultimate file on the “finished” pile when his office door banged open, smacking back into the wall before slamming shut in its frame. Roy jumped; he couldn't help himself, because it had been days since Ed had entered the room like that, and Roy had just started to grow used to the peace. Yet he couldn't help but feel a flash of pure, unadulterated joy. It was good to see Ed like this, no longer a shielded light, but sun-bright and, unsurprisingly, inferno-furious.

'What the fuck, Mustang? Hawkeye says I have to go to some stupid military ball and wear a –' He paused, swallowed and almost spat the word, '– _uniform_.'

'Dress uniform,' Roy corrected him, sitting back in his chair to watch the whip and flare of Ed's indignation. It was a brief flicker of normality, and he allowed himself to relish it. 'It's compulsory for everyone invited to attend. You've managed to escape before by conveniently being on assignment or recuperating, but I'm afraid, this time, you'll have to go.'

Ed looked like he'd just taken a bite of a lemon: his nose wrinkled in disgust and his lips pursed tight, but behind all that there was a faint glow of something like relief. After all, if he had to go to some military function, then he couldn't spend the evening in Cole's clutches. 'But a uniform?' he sighed, visibly pained at the thought. 'If you think I'm paying for it then you can forget it.'

'The military normally provides one, although whether they'll have one in your size is another matter.' The smirk felt almost alien on Roy's lips. It had been so long since he'd smiled like he meant it, and he covered his mouth with his hand as Ed shot him a look of pure poison, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted like he was barely biting back his “I'm not short” rant.

Yet he held his silence, and the happiness in Roy's heart stuttered. However much he wanted to believe otherwise, things had changed, not only in Ed's life, but in Roy's as well. The dynamic between them had shifted and, now more than ever, Roy felt like there was no going back.

'You're a dick,' Ed said at last, but it was in a weary way, like he'd never really expected anything less. 'How long do I have to stay tonight?' 

Roy leaned back in his chair, idly tapping his pen against the desk as he thought it through. 'It will probably carry on until early morning: a trial of endurance, sometimes. I wish I could say it will be a pleasurable gathering, but often the whole thing degenerates into some kind of subtle power-play.'

'Great.' Ed scowled as he turned towards the couch in front of the fire, flopping down into its comfortable depths uninvited. 'What the hell do you expect me to do? You know all this political stuff isn't my thing.'

'Being there is adequate.' Roy turned back to the last report, scanning its contents before placing his signature on the dotted line. 'There'll be free food,' he added, smiling as Ed made a grudging sound of approval. 'You don't have to speak to anyone if you don't want to.'

When Ed didn't answer, Roy looked up at him. From this angle, he couldn't see much of Ed's face, but the few details he could make out told a story of their own. His jaw was clenched tight, and his posture was he stared into the fire. 'Are you all right?'

Ed looked over his shoulder, his brow pinched into an uncertain frown and his lips parted around what was probably a question. However, his words were cut off by Roy's door being thrown open for the second time in ten minutes.

'Doesn't anyone knock anymore?' Roy murmured, raising his eyebrow as Hughes and Al crossed the threshold. They both looked flushed, as if they had run all the way from the library, and Roy's stomach clenched with a mixture of dread and hope as Maes shut the door behind him and pulled a neatly-folded newspaper page from his breast pocket. 'You found something?'

'Definitely,' Hughes replied, handing it over and waiting for Roy to spread it out, 'and, with a bit of luck, I think we can put it to good use.'

'What is it?' Ed asked, turning around fully to look over the back of the sofa. His voice was dead with tension, and he frowned when Al and Hughes both exchanged a glance. 'Just tell me. It can't be worse than him shoving someone down the stairs, can it?'

Roy skimmed the paper, drawing in a breath as he found the relevant print. It was a small announcement, easy to miss, but there none-the-less, and he read the dense print carefully before looking up at Hughes. 'He's engaged?'

Maes nodded, folding his arms and glancing down at the rug. 'Not just any engagement, either. He's meant to marry the De Laureat's oldest daughter.'

Ed gave a rough growl of something like disgust, and Roy winced in pity. It was bad enough that Cole had turned out to be a manipulative little shit, but now it seemed like he was using Ed to betray someone else. Perhaps that wouldn't bother some people, but he knew Ed would feel the taint of it. 

'De Laureat,' Roy repeated, not taking his eyes from Ed's profile as he spoke. 'Why does that name ring a bell?'

Hughes gave a small, mirthless laugh, watching Al cross the room to sit at his brother's side before he refreshed Roy's memory. 'They own most of the rich farm land on the south side of the city, as well as several industrial buildings along the river. They have properties and connections in Drachma and Cretia... .' He shook his head as he met Roy's gaze. 'I don't think it's as much a marriage as an alliance. It's all about power.'

Ed shook his head, his shoulders shifting as he crossed his arms. 'How exactly does that help us?' he demanded. 'It's not like it's going to be news to Cole that he's engaged. I don't see how we can use it against him.'

Roy stood up, turning to look out of the window at the sprawl of Central's skyline as he thought fast. He normally only concerned himself with military politics but, whether he liked it or not, there was a shifting sea of civilian allegiances out there. The old families knew that they had to move with the times. A name was no longer enough to buy them respect, and Hughes was right. Both the Silverthornes and the De Laureats would have their reasons for wanting their children to marry one another, and love probably had nothing to do with it.

'Betrothals like this are normally about status,' he explained. 'The Silverthornes will probably want to protect it, and I doubt they would appreciate Cole jeopardising the arrangement by getting involved with someone else.' Roy glanced back at Ed apologetically, taking in the huddle of his shoulders and the angry line of his mouth. 'Without more information, I can't judge how much weight this might hold over Cole. I need to know who has the highest stake in the engagement. If it's the De Laureats, then it won't do us any good because they'll overlook Cole's indiscretion to see the marriage go through, but if it's the Silverthornes, they'll do whatever they can to keep news of you away from Cole's betrothed and her family.'

'How do you plan to find that out?' Ed got to his feet and moved towards the fireplace, holding his hands out towards the heat of the flames. 'It's not like you can ask them, is it?' He looked up when Roy didn't answer, his eyebrows lifting in curiosity as Roy looked over at Hughes.

'The ball's a military _and_ civilian function, isn't it?' he asked as a flicker of triumph warmed his heart. 'The Fuhrer would not have neglected to invite at least one representative of the Silverthorne family.'

Hughes was already smiling as if he could pluck Roy's intentions from his mind. All this time they had been hiding in the shadows, reading fusty old articles and trying to take in the dry, ageing information their pages held. Now, at last, there could be the chance for Roy to do what he did best. He knew how to get people to give him the information he needed – understood how to steer a conversations subtly onto different topics and glean the truth from more than just words. Now, finally, he might have the chance to really be of use.

'Intelligence already has a copy of the guest list, since security needed our verification. I'll go and see who we're dealing with,' Hughes said, already turning to go. 'There's a good chance someone from the De Laureats will be there as well. The Fuhrer might be a fool, but he's still the man in charge, and the families aren't going to risk insulting him by not putting in an appearance. I'll let you know before tonight.'

Roy nodded, waiting until his friend left before looking back to Al and Ed. The latter was staring unseeingly into the flames, but Alphonse was watching Roy, his young face pinched with worry and his chin held high.

'If Cole's family disapprove of him going behind his fiancée's back, then what's to stop them from taking that out on Ed?' he asked, his voice shaking with barely suppressed fear. 'If they're that desperate for an alliance, they're still going to need to marry off Cole, but getting Ed out of the picture won't be so difficult.'

Roy raised an eyebrow at that assessment. He'd spent hours worrying about the Silverthornes getting revenge should Ed decide to bring Cole's life to an abrupt end, but he'd never considered they might lash out to protect their investment. 

'At least if I'm out of the picture, then you two won't be in danger anymore,' Ed pointed out quietly, still not looking around. 'Either way, Cole loses his ammunition.'

'That's not an option,' Roy said, his voice low and firm with certainty. 'The Silverthornes probably already know about your involvement in Cole's life. If they felt threatened by it, then they would have already acted. I'm assuming they haven't?'

The question was directed at Ed, and blonde hair whispered around his face as he shook his head. 'Cole thinks they don't know, but I've seen guys in suits sometimes, keeping an eye on me. Don't know if they're Cole's or his family's, though.'

'I imagine that any of Cole's helpers have a higher allegiance to his father, anyway,' Roy replied, turning that new piece of information over in his mind. He had suspected that Ed was being watched, if only for Cole to make sure he stayed in line, but it was another thing entirely to have that thought confirmed. 'Al, I'll only use this information against Cole if I'm certain that Ed won't get caught up in the repercussions. At the moment there are too many unknown factors, but perhaps by the end of tonight we'll have an answer.'

'And if we don't?' Al asked, waving his hands in a futile gesture. 'If all we've found is another lock to put on my brother's cage, then what?'

'Then we've still got the bank,' Ed replied, and his voice was firm with certainty. 'We'll get out of this, Al, whatever it takes.' He pulled his hands away from the fire's halo and looked up to meet Roy's eyes. 'Right?'

Roy took a deep breath, feeling the balance of the moment. A week ago, robbing the bank would have been unimaginable, but now Ed was asking Roy for his help, and there was only one answer that he could give.

'Right.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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